


The Love We Left Unwritten

by baeconandeggs, oraceon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Breaking up and making up, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, Injury, M/M, Post-Break Up, Romance, Science Fiction, mentions of past minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 12:55:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/oraceon/pseuds/oraceon
Summary: Baekhyun and Chanyeol are data parsing experts, both the best in their field. But all these years later, their hearts remain encrypted to each other, unable to be decoded.





	1. Great Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE1045  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
>   
> 
> **Author's Note:** I say this every year, but this time more than any other, my utmost thanks go to the mods who somehow patiently dealt with everything I put them through. This fic was definitely rushed in some parts, which is absolutely my fault for not keeping to an organised writing schedule yet again. In terms of the vision I had when I first picked up this prompt, I may have bitten off more than I can chew, however I did get down as many ideas as I had and I hope at least some of them are novel. Hopefully what I was able to give will make the prompter happy, as they deserve it for such an amazing prompt idea; as well as all you lovely readers, of course. This has been a very tumultuous time for me, but I'd like to thank you all once again for reading, and thank the mods from the bottom of my heart for still having me despite everything. I hope you enjoy.

" _A half-read book is a half-finished love affair._ " - David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

**Chapter One: Great Expectations**

Baekhyun hasn't felt this exhausted in years.

He reaches for the polystyrene cup on the table next to his recliner chair, the warmth gently unfurling his fingers, trying to rub away the marks on his skin where the transmitters attached with the back of his other hand. He winces at the taste, but within seconds he feels the patented energy boost spark from his toes to his fingertips. As he flips his legs over the side of the chair he slips his feet into his shoes, always slightly too big for him. On his new surge of energy he rolls his weight forward until he's standing, leaning on the balls of his feet until he brings himself back to balance. He swipes his ID on the scanner by the door as he walks out of his cubicle.

"Mr Byun," a voice calls out to him when he reaches the lobby, and he follows its source until the click of her heels on the white tile is audible over the bustle of the office-level workers.

He bows his head slightly. "Miss Kwon."

"Your parsing session today, it wasn't too strenuous, was it?" She asks the question, but it doesn't look like she actually cares about the answer either way.

"It was a little more dense than the usual, and I'm not as young as I used to be, but I handled it fine and everything processed properly," he responds, and she nods. Having worked her way up from the bottom herself, Miss Kwon certainly isn't a stranger to the process.

"For certain items we can only look to the most experienced individuals on the team," she says, and Baekhyun takes the compliment. "People like you and Mr Park are the only ones we can consider reliable."

The name of course sparks Baekhyun's attention, though he shows no signs of it aside from a quick balling of his hands into fists, only to be released faster than anyone can notice. "Thank you," he smiles anyway. "Though I'm sure the younger trainees will reach our level much faster than we did."

She doesn't respond to this, though it's more apathetic than disagreeing. "You are aware of the meeting at 3, correct?" She cuts the small talk short, Baekhyun nods. "See you there, then."

Though Miss Kwon had become much more sociable in the past few years, the disconnect from society brought about from her beginning training at such a young age still lingered. She had been largely alone at the time too, unlike the young trainees enrolling nowadays. Baekhyun often finds himself feeling bad for her, but then realises she likely doesn't feel bad for herself, and lets the pity go.

The cafeteria is a bustle of noise which he can hear from all the way down the hallway. All staff eat together, though naturally cliques and friendship groups have formed. Most other staff couldn't relate to Archivists, nicknamed Arcs, and Baekhyun doesn't blame them for generally staying away. Hanging out with people in a constant state of tiredness would be tiring, after all.

Exceptions exist, of course. Jongdae is Baekhyun's.

"Tough session today?" His asks through a mouthful of food, lips permanently curled up at the ends. "I saw the file size down at Base. Compression was high too. That couldn't have been easy."

"Hardest one in a long time," Baekhyun says, shuffling into the seat next to him. The table lights softly, and Baekhyun taps in his food order before it returns to dull white. "They keep finding more and more complex ones, and I don't know if we'll be able to keep up at this rate."

"Apparently that's what the Arc meeting later is about," Jongdae spins the pasta around his fork. "At least, that's what Chanyeol thinks."

Baekhyun grunts, leaning his head against his arm as he watches people's meals be carried down the conveyor belt in the middle of the bench. "You're the second person to mention him to me today, and that's two people too many."

"What did you expect, Baekhyun?" He watches as Baekhyun takes his plate off the belt, and his drink soon after. "He may have been working off-site for a while but you knew he'd come back eventually. And then you two are the most experienced Arcs, out of the active ones anyway. Obviously your names are going to be mentioned together a lot."

Baekhyun doesn't reply, choosing to bite into his overly cheesy pizza instead.

Jongdae sighs. "And just because you two broke up doesn't mean that all of us are going to stop being friends with him. You're forgetting most of the people here have known him longer."

"How could I possibly forget that," Baekhyun says, taking a sip of his Coke. Finally the taste of the energy mix from earlier just about gets smothered. "I had to work twice as hard when I first joined the IAC because of that. And it's not like the trainers let me forget either."

"Still, blaming him for all of that is pointless. I mean, _you_ were the one who broke up with _him_."

"I'm not blaming him for anything," Baekhyun says, because he really isn't. "That still doesn't mean I want to hear about him, though."

Jongdae rolls his eyes. "It's been two years since the pair parsing thing, Baekhyun. Why don't you just get over him already?"

"Easier said than done," Baekhyun mumbles, placing the now empty plate back on the belt. "One thing you're smarter than me in is that you never decided to date a co-worker. Having a crush on someone from a different department was very smart of you."

"I can't disagree with that," Jongdae winks, taking an obnoxiously loud slurp of his drink before returning his dishes too. "I should get going. The Main has been extra busy lately, and my lunch hour ended 15 minutes ago."

Baekhyun half kicks him out of his seat with a worried look on his face, to which Jongdae throws up a peace sign as he leaves. They couldn't be more different: Jongdae a carefree and happy-go-lucky Retrieval Expert; and Baekhyun, a work-focused Archivist. If they hadn't known each other since they were kids, Baekhyun doesn't think he'd have even considered him for an acquaintance, let alone his best friend.

For a second, the lights above flicker off, the conveyor belt coming to a stop just momentarily before starting up again. Regardless, a tired groan erupts across the room. Power failures have been occurring more and more frequently across Atlas, and the data Baekhyun had been asked to parse this morning was related to finding a potential solution. The session hadn't provided any new information, however, and standing up as the lights flicker back on, he can't help but think the meeting has something to do with this.

The meeting room is on the sixth floor. If it had been the second, where meetings usually took place, Baekhyun may have considered taking the stairs to burn off the calories he'd just consumed. But six is just too many, and today he feels he deserves a break.

The elevator door is just about to close when a foot just about stops it, and Baekhyun looks up to see a familiar face.

_So much for a break._

"Baekhyun, it's been a while," Chanyeol says. He's got his hands in the pockets of his slacks, just like when they were first getting to know each other. When they were dating Baekhyun used to chastise him whenever he did it, telling him it was unprofessional, and even now Baekhyun bites back the words waiting on his tongue. He isn't someone who could tell Chanyeol how to behave now, after all.

"Yeah, it has." He gives him a polite smile before facing forward again. The elevator whirrs to life, a smooth ascent, and Baekhyun keeps his eyes strictly on the lit up screen that breaks the monotony of the smooth white walls, watching the numbers rise as they ride in silence. He can feel Chanyeol's eyes still on him though, watching, as if analysing every tiny movement. The air catches in his lungs and he holds it there, only releasing it when the elevator doors open on their floor.

He walks out as quickly as possible, hearing Chanyeol's more relaxed footsteps and feeling his gaze through his back. He ignores it. A quick swipe of his card on the scanner outside the meeting room unlocks the door, and he holds it open just long enough for Chanyeol to catch it without having to move for it. The looks the two of them receive from the other Arcs don't go unnoticed, but neither say anything, taking an empty seat each, apart from each other.

After a short pause Miss Kwon walks into the room, everyone straightening up in her presence. She clears her throat, and brings up an image on the ProScreen. It's a photo of the inside of an old building, but certainly not one on Atlas. There seems to be no semblance of modern technology in the room at all, and the usage of wood instead of metal is also noteworthy; however, there's one part of the photo that seems to have caught everyone's eye.

"Today we were finally able to retrieve a new dataset from our current resources," Miss Kwon begins, and all eyes shift to her. "This isn't something to call a meeting over, of course. However it has come to our attention that this single dataset has a compression vastly beyond the limits of what we thought was possible."

Mutters sweep through the crowd after the comprehension kicks in. Baekhyun doesn't participate, instead simply furrowing his brows as he tries to figure out where she's going with this. He doesn't look across the table to verify it, but he's certain Chanyeol is going through the same thought process too.

Miss Kwon clears her throat, calling attention back to herself. "All of you here have been trained to be able to decompress these datasets and translate them into language, and these have allowed us to make massive progress in retrieving vital information from our past. However," she sighs slightly, "while it may be true that the human mind is the world's best computer, it would be foolish to assume it has no limitations. I'm afraid our ancestors, who created this data for us to decode, had far too high expectations of how far it was possible to go."

"Ma'am, what exactly are you trying to say?" A younger Arc's voice asks.

Boa closes her eyes momentarily, before opening them again, slowly. "Some data we've found is impossible to decode. We're going to need to send people down to Earth to retrieve it in its printed format."

There's a sudden uproar as soon as these words land on the ears of the Arcs, many standing from their seats. "This is not what I signed up for," one shouts. "Are we useless now? Was our training for nothing?" The young ones continue to argue, and Boa simply looks between Baekhyun and Chanyeol, the two most experienced members of the team.

If he's being honest, Baekhyun had been expecting this news would come eventually, though not so soon. What he decoded today had been difficult, though it couldn't be his limit, he knew this. They hadn't tried pushing him that far yet. And if they had already come to this decision, it could only mean one thing.

"I'm assuming you're basing this decision on a session where Chanyeol tried and failed to parse this data, correct?" Baekhyun asks. 

Chanyeol turns towards Baekhyun, worry in his eyes. Baekhyun ignores him, keeping his face completely stoic as Miss Kwon nods.

"So you decided on such a drastic measure before even allowing me to attempt decoding?"

"We thought it unnecessary," she replies, candid. "You both have the same level of skill, and the same amount of experience. If Mr Park failed it's likely you would, too."

"How is it fair that you won't even give me the chance to prove you wrong?" Baekhyun says, and for the first time in the exchange his voice betrays a tinge of hurt.

A few of the younger Arcs look surprised by this, but of course the boss remains as composed as ever. She had known him since he too was young, after all, when he still wore his emotions on his sleeve. "While I still think it won't yield any results, I guess there's no harm in allowing you to try." She checks her phone. "Are you free for the next hour? We can do this straight away, if you wish."

"Ma'am, he already had a pretty tough session today," Chanyeol protests. "Mine was my only one that day, it's hardly fair-"

"I'll do it." Baekhyun doesn't let him finish.

Miss Kwon just nods and walks towards the door. "This floor, Room 14. Come when youre ready." She opens the door, and the taps of her heels fade gradually into silence.

Baekhyun stands not even a minute later, taking another energy drink out of his bag and chugging it. He can hear some of the younger Arcs talking about how cool he is, how they wish they were so gifted. Baekhyun wants to scoff, but instead he drops the empty can in the bin and starts to head out.

He's barely out of the door when someone's holding him back.

"Listen, Baekhyun, I know you want to prove something here, but you can't put your health at risk for this." Chanyeol's grip on his arm is firm, yet gentle. As if he's afraid he'll break him somehow. "Tell them you'll do it tomorrow."

Baekhyun isn't one to be broken so easily. "I'll do what I want, Chanyeol," he says. "Now let me go."

They stay like this for a minute, a silent stalemate, until eventually Chanyeol surrenders, releasing his arm. Baekhyun turns immediately, off to the room Boa had mentioned, but he can still feel Chanyeol's stare through his back, even when he's sure he's out of his sight.

He wants to confront him, to tell him to stop looking at him with those eyes every time they meet. But it's not like he has any right to tell Chanyeol how to act anymore.

~

Baekhyun breathes slowly, in and out, as the transmitters are attached to his scalp. One set will feed the encrypted data into his mind, while the others will relay the unscrambled information out to the storage facility, where the information will be uploaded to the widescale network of Atlas, or to the restricted networks of the government or secret intelligence, depending on the content. Very few Arcs qualified to handle such classified, sensitive information. Baekhyun is one of them, an apparent miracle case, having spent only a year in specialised training before beginning to work in the field. Of course, he had to work three times harder than most to get where he is today, but being so highly ranked is worth it, in his opinion.

Only one other active Arc is at his level.

"Mr Park wasn't able to complete the procedure despite being fully rested. Are you sure you want to do this, Mr Byun?"

"I've made my decision," Baekhyun says to the Lab Tech, who only nods soberly as she attaches the final electrode. Miss Kwon is watching from an observation room separated from Baekhyun by a one-way mirror, as is protocol for dealing with potentially vital data like this.

"Well, when you're ready, please go ahead and push the button as usual. I'll only be able to re-enter the room when you are no longer parsing. Good luck." The girl bows, ducking out of the room without a moment's notice.

Baekhyun waits a moment, collecting all his thoughts together before making them disappear, all at once. After years of hard work honing this skill, it's practically second nature. Once he's sure his mind is free of all trappings, he pushes the button.

At the speed of light, information surges into his mind. The data is scrambled, as it always is prior to parsing, and it is the job of an Arc to unscramble it, to re-assemble the data into coherent content, and then relay that into humanity's neural network for future use. All that is required to begin is to find the starting point, the corner piece of the puzzle, so to speak. He had trained for so many years for this very purpose. He can't fail now.

~

The air he breathes as he awakes has a noticeable medicinal smell. Before he can open his eyes, his stomach has already sunk; being here, and not in the parsing room, could only mean one thing. He keeps his eyes closed as he hears the heels tap on the floor, louder as they approach. Once they come to a stop, he lets go of the breath he's been holding.

"I failed."

Miss Kwon sighs. "You tried your hardest, Baekhyun. Even I could not have dealt with data like this when I was in my prime. It's simply impossible."

"That what they said about a lot of things, and what made us special was that we proved them wrong each time." Baekhyun turns to her, feeling a pang of something like disgust when he catches her sympathetic look. "What's the point anymore? We've overstayed our usefulness."

"Your talents aren't exclusive to just parsing," she says. "We've had a contingency plan in place for decades, and your training has prepared you plenty to carry it out." She crosses her arms. "Do you understand what I'm asking of you? We're relying on you, even now."

It takes a second, but then Baekhyun realises what she means. At the time, he did not understand what survival skills had to do with data processing, or why he needed to be able to read when written language had become obsolete; but it was required training, and Baekhyun had pushed himself through it for the sake of his dream. This too is part of his job. The people sent down to Earth could not just be anybody - less than a hundred Atlas citizens have visited in the four centuries since the Exodus, and fewer made it back. Back when Atlas was still called Babylon, ventures out to Earth were much more common, but this changed quickly. The planet once called home by humanity is now largely a barren wasteland, and Miss Kwon is asking him to go there.

She stares at him expectantly. "So, Mr Byun, how about it?"

He doesnt face her, too deep in thpugh with his eyes trained steadily on his lap. "How will I be able to find my way around, not to mention survive down there? I can't be the only one you're sending, right?"

"You're absolutely right. We have a Contact who lives there in one of our Bases, he'll help you with food, shelter and navigation once you're on Earth. We will also be sending a linguistics expert with you to handle any translation that you require. And of course, Mr Park will be coming with you too."

Baekhyun feels his lips twitch involuntarily. "I thought you said you were relying on me."

"Having two shoulders to lean on is better than just one, Mr Byun; not to mention, leaving the fate of humanity to just one person is irresponsible." She begins to walk out, stopping at the door but not turning around. Her voice seems to stiffen, and Baekhyun wonders what her expression must look like right now. "I think it's time you put aside your personal history and understand this is for the sake of our species, Baekhyun. I'm not asking for you to make up, just some civility and teamwork. Chanyeol practically jumped at this opportunity to help mankind, and if you are as professional as you pertain to be in front of your juniors, you would be just as enthusiastic. Let me know your decision by tomorrow."

She leaves before he can give her a reply, and he doesn't think he could have made one so quickly either. Of course this is far from an ideal situation, but he's an Arc, a top-level one at that, and his training had taught him to deal with stresses just like these. His skill and professionalism is what had allowed him to be where he is today. Chanyeol, for all his casual manners and informal speech, at least understood that work required a different mindset. It was something Baekhyun had respected about him soon after they had gotten to know each other, a switch between mentalities which he envied immensely.

Baekhyun brings two fingers up to the right side of his temple, where one transmitter had been attached. The adhesive had been cleaned off by the Medics already, but leftover heat from the parsing still lingers. The clock indicates that hours had passed since the session, and yet his skin is still warm. He wonders whether Chanyeol's forehead would have been warm to the touch too, if he had allowed himself to get that close when they last met. He dispels the thought from his mind, however, just as his training had taught him to.

He reaches for the Comm left on the side table just within reach of the bed, positioning the device in front of him once he gets what he wants. "Miss Kwon, I have your answer."

~

The trip to Earth is scheduled for a week later, giving Baekhyun just enough time to recover fully and get his belongings in order. No one can confirm a fixed duration for the mission, but by his predictions he assumes they'd be called back up after a month, at most. Still, this is a long time away from his main work, especially for a man who hasn't taken more than a week off for his entire career. Jongdae says as much when he tells him of the plan.

"You spend all of your time nowadays either at work or at home, and now you're leaving Atlas altogether? I don't know how you're going to cope, man. Especially somewhere like Earth. There's a reason people don't go down there very often." Jongdae throws Baekhyun a shirt. They had been told to pack lightly, as they'd be provided with special clothing regardless. Baekhyun's grateful for this considering he doesn't really stock up on fashion much.

"We used up all of our resources and it triggered another ice age, but that doesn't mean the planet is still inhospitable. We're just not repatriating because the cleanup process would take too long, and staying on Atlas is just convenient."

Jongdae just looks at him and shakes his head with a sigh. "Sometimes being friends with someone as well-read as you can be really exhausting. In high school at least we were on the same level, so I got to be right at least now and then."

"You made the decision to always lose arguments with me when you didn't sign up for Arc training after graduation," Baekhyun smirks, pulling the zip of the duffel bag closed. "And anyway, every dataset I've parsed aside from the confidential stuff is on the network. You could always catch up to me if you wanted to."

"No thanks," Jongdae says, landing on the bed with a soft thump. "If being friends with someone with so much information in their head is this tiring, I can't imagine how bad it would be to actually be that person. Not to mention," he stretches his legs out, his tone growing sardonic, "It's not like you always do the right thing either."

"If you're trying to shift the topic of conversation over to Chanyeol then let me warn you now that I have no interest in talking about him when I don't absolutely have to," Baekhyun says, staring Jongdae straight in the eye. Of course, he had thought about it, there's no way around that. But he reasons that if he pretends it isn't real until the day comes around, the universe might just play in his favour and Chanyeol would have to pull out of the mission for some reason.

Jongdae clearly sees right through this, and he's not buying into it. "You can't stay living in a fantasy world where you keep ignoring him, Baek. You didn't end on good terms, and I can tell you still think about him a lot. Running away from the problem isn't going to solve it, especially when you're going to be practically living together for the next month."

"We're co-workers, Jongdae," Baekhyun sighs, frustrated. "Nothing more. We've both got a job to do, and we're professional enough to not let our feelings get in the way of that. I don't have to address anything that's not relevant to the task at hand, and that's that."

There's a slightly upset look on Jongdae's face for just a fraction of a second, before a smirk takes its place. "You know Baek, you may have academic smarts because of your work, but your emotional intelligence is pitiful." He yawns. "Chanyeol knew that about you. That's why he knew whenever he had an argument with you, he'd win. And he did."

Baekhyun just stares at him in silence for a moment before his Comm rings, a welcome distraction. He has some physical training for the trip scheduled today, so he has to head out immediately. Jongdae says nothing more to him, aside from a small "good luck" as he leaves.

~

The ship dock is a highly monitored area of Atlas, one few non-military and service personnel have ever visited. Baekhyun knows this already, but he feels it once he arrives: several dozen eyes follow his every move, the air is claustrophobic, it is silent. The officer who had met him at the gate guides him to the bunker which they will stay in for the final hours before the launch, and leaves, never having said a single word.

Chanyeol isn't here yet, and Baekhyun is glad for every second of it. Another man sits on one of the benches running across the sides of the small shelter, but he stands when he sees Baekhyun enter.

Baekhyun approaches him with a hand outstretched. "Byun Baekhyun, Level 7 Arc. I assume you'll be the Translator for our trip, it's nice to meet you."

The man takes his hand firmly. "Yes. I'm Do Kyungsoo, a Level 6 Translator. I'll be aiding you on this mission, so I hope I can be of good service."

Baekhyun slightly doubts whether that'll happen, since the guy isn't even the highest level in his profession, but he doesn't mention it out loud. "So what languages can you decipher?"

"Pretty much every one still used in Atlas today, as well as a few additional ones which became extinct over time." He looks Baekhyun up and down, and then leans ever so slightly forward. "Pardon me for asking, but having reached Level 7 as an Arc you certainly must have interpreted data in other languages. Am I really needed here?"

"The human brain only has a limited capacity. Run too much information through it at any one time and it will overload and cease to work." Baekhyun moves to the opposite wall, taking a seat so he's facing Kyungsoo directly, watching him as he too sits down. "When we parse data, we can choose to retain only the parts that we deem most vital to us, in order to avoid this slow down in processing speed. So everything related to my job, and making sure I can do my job to the best of my ability, stays. Most everything else, including most of the languages, disappears as soon as I'm done with it."

After a moment of pondering, Kyungsoo looks like he understands. "That sounds very intense."

Baekhyun simply smiles. "It is. By the way, I do have passing fluency in Japanese and Mandarin, if that counts for anything."

"I can't speak Mandarin but I can speak English," another voice says from the door. Baekhyun winces briefly, but Kyungsoo probably still notices with how wide his eyes seem to stay. Chanyeol approaches Kyungsoo first. "We both learned Japanese, though. Nice to meet you. I'm Park Chanyeol, a Level 7 Arc. I look forward to working with you."

"Do Kyungsoo, Level 6 Translator. And likewise," he says, and they both shake hands.

There's a brief moment of awkwardness before Chanyeol turns to where Baekhyun is trying to blend into the background, foiling his plans by sitting right next to him. "How are you feeling," he says, lowering his voice slightly so only Baekhyun can hear it.

"My recovery finished two days ago, so I'm alright. It shouldn't hinder the mission at all," Baekhyun says, staring at the ground.

"That's not why I asked," Chanyeol retorts, facing forward and slouching a little in his seat. "But I'm glad you're well," he mutters under his breath.

But he's not really well. His hearts drumming at a rate so fast he's sure it must be audible from anywhere on the ship dock, but neither Chanyeol nor Kyungsoo make any sign of noticing. This is how it's going to be for the next few _weeks_ , Baekhyun remembers, and somehow his heartbeat becomes even more rapid.

Somewhere between the pounding in his head he picks up the familiar click of heels, and sure enough Miss Kwon appears in view. They all stand to greet her, and she nods with a small smile. "I assume you've all introduced yourselves," she asks, and they nod. "The launch will be in 90 minutes, so it's time to board the ship about now. This is the last chance to change your minds, please let me know now if you're having second thoughts."

"I doubt that will be necessary, Miss Kwon. Not to mention backing out now after making promises to the investors would not look good," a booming male voice sounds out from behind her, making her jump a little before swiftly stepping aside. Chanyeol stiffens significantly in his place. The Director stands tall, his fitted suit a complementary stone grey to the hair tinged with old age atop his head. They all hurry to their feet. "These young men all seem very eager to prove themselves. After all, Mr Byun agreed to this task so quickly, I heard."

It's not often the Director is seen by subordinates, Baekhyun has only seen him maybe two or three times in all the years he's worked there, and yet the man has always seemed to know a lot about him and his work. It makes him proud, to know his name is recognised even at the highest level. His parents, both of whom worked in the Agriculture sector, had been sceptical of whether their son really had the capability of being an Arc. The first time the Director had talked about him had been in their presence, managing to change their minds more quickly with a few words than Baekhyun could despite years of begging.

"Chanyeol, how is your mother nowadays? I haven't heard from her in a while," the director asks, and Chanyeol flinches slightly.

Baekhyun feels a tiny pinching in his heart - Chanyeol's lineage had never been a secret. His mother, a truly game-changing Arc during her prime, had been a contemporary of the Director, and they had become close despite the Director's marriage. So when Chanyeol's mother became pregnant with no other man in her life, the conclusion was obvious. Of course, Chanyeol never got the same privileges as the other sons, but people still viewed his success as a product of nepotism.

But it was hard work and his mother's faith in him which had pushed him ahead, not connections. It had been so utterly natural for Chanyeol to pursue Arc training himself, and he had inherited a natural affinity for it from his mother, not to mention being primed for it in the specialist academy he had enrolled in for high school, from which he graduated the top of his class. Baekhyun can't imagine how much further in his own career he'd be right now had he grown up in that kind of environment. "She's fine, thank you," Chanyeol says, his breathing rushed. "We're honoured that you made time to see us before we embark on our mission, Sir," he bows, and the others follow suit. Baekhyun wonders at what point Chanyeol became so poilte.

"Well it's a very important one, so I thought it would be appropriate to check on things. What about you, Mr Do, are you ready? For that matter, are you all?"

From the corner of his vision, Baekhyun spots Kyungsoo resolutely nod his head yes and take a few steps forward. Looking back at Miss Kwon, she now has her eyes trained directly on the two of them, a silent threat to not embarrass her. Baekhyun feels the air catch in his throat. Could he really handle leaving his comfort zone like this, potentially putting his life on the line in the process? He had convinced himself he could, over the last week, but now that it's just around the corner it's something else entirely. He closes his eyes for a second, breathes deep, collects his thoughts and tries to slow down his heartbeat. As he does, a warmth covers the hand that's gripping the bench tightly. It's a familiar warmth, one that makes him relax without hesitation. He opens his eyes and sees Chanyeol staring at him earnestly; that look on his face which he always has when they meet, but somehow gets more painful every time Baekhyun sees it nowadays.

Chanyeol squeezes his hand softly. "You okay?"

Baekhyun nods, feeling his heartbeat calm down instinctively. After all they had trained like this together, helping calm each other down before their most tense parsing examinations. Some old habits did hard, it seems.

But even as he's calming down, he doesn't know if he truly is okay. He tells the Director and Miss Kwon that he's ready to go, even though he doesn't know that either. And once they're aboard the spacecraft, preparing for lightspeed travel just like he'd learned about in so much data he'd parsed, he tries to convince himself that everything will be alright; even as the engines propel them into the wide unknown.


	2. The Outsider

**Chapter Two: The Outsider**

The ship lands without a sound, slightly hovering above the Earth as the walkway extends from the underside of the vessel. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Baekhyun takes the opportunity to stretch out his arms above his head. He had never been good with long journeys, and this was his longest one ever, of course. With his eyes closed, he can sense Kyungsoo slowly getting to his feet somewhere to his left, and to his right he can hear Chanyeol standing up with as much ease as if the journey had only lasted minutes, not hours.

Baekhyun checks his laces are tied, his backpack is zipped, and his belongings are where they should be. They'd been told they would have to walk at some points, and so they'd only be able to carry whatever they could bear the weight of by themselves. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol both seem to have followed these instructions well enough, though Kyungsoo seems to be struggling with his bag a bit. "Do you need help?" Baekhyun asks him. Kyungsoo shakes his head no, though it's obvious this isn't what he wants to say. Chanyeol watches their exchange, but says nothing. They approach the exit, inputting each of their individual codes into the keypad, and the seamlessly placed door finally becomes visible, separating from the rest of the wall soundlessly. The steel walkway extends from the exit to the ground, the moonlight from the night sky reflecting off of its metallic surface; but before they can even step out, the outside air rushes in.

They all start to cough slightly. Low purity air habituation could only prepare them for so much, and the chill of the wind as it whips against their faces is something new. "You okay?" Chanyeol manages to say once their lungs are accustomed to it. Both nod, Baekhyun clinging onto the straps of his backpack with reddened fingers. They step out of the ship, their footsteps light on the walkway until they reach the ground. The surface is wet, mud dirtying their shoes with the smell of recent rain. Chanyeol bends down, running his fingers through the grass and against the earth.

"Be careful, you don't know what's in there," Baekhyun worriedly says before he can stop himself. Chanyeol looks up at him briefly, a little surprised.

"Yeah, there could be all sorts of pathogens in the soil here, things we don't even know about to get immunised against," Kyungsoo pipes up, and is about to continue when they all hear a rustling behind them. Kyungsoo has his hand on his pocket as he turns, no doubt a concealed weapon he'd been told to bring from Atlas.

"If you've got your routine shots you should be just fine down here," a man says, slightly tanned with an athletic build, decked in quite well-worn clothes nothing like what would be found on Atlas. He stops a few feet short, seeing the suspicious looks on their faces. "I'm Kim Jongin, the Contact who will be guiding you down here. You've been told about me, right?"

Realisation dawns upon them one by one, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol do their introductions as normal. Baekhyun notes that this man's hand is considerably rougher than any other he'd shaken in his life so far, but that much is understandable. Kyungsoo still seems a little wary when he delivers his introduction, and Baekhyun notes this too. He catches Chanyeol giving him a look from the corner of his eye, so he probably noticed the same thing.

"Well, for tonight you're quite lucky. We'll be staying at Base Camp for now so you all can rest, and then we'll be starting our journey tomorrow. Follow me, it's nearby." He walks with strong, confident strides. They do as he said, a little more unsure on their feet but gaining confidence with every step. After only five minutes of walking they happen upon what is presumably Base Camp, a relatively archaic building that looks like its last update was over 20 years ago. Jongin bends his knees slightly so his eyes are level with the retina scanner, and after a pause, the door opens with a noticeable whir.

The inside of the building is as archaic as the outside, if not moreso. TV screens are propped up against the walls in place of projectors, all the keyboards comprised of physical buttons, and the room remains in darkness until Jongin manually switches the light on, a departure from the automatic lighting systems found everywhere in Atlas.

"Our generators are quite small, and they rely on solar energy just like the ones up in Atlas," Jongin explains. "Obviously we don't get as much sun down here as you do up in space, so we have to make some compromises on the tech we can use."

"How long have you been down here?" Chanyeol asks as he takes a seat in the control room, where Jongin had gestured.

"Almost 7 years now," he says. "I knew this is what I wanted to do ever since I was a kid. I took the first opportunity to get out of Atlas that I could."

"I don't see why," Kyungsoo mutters. "No offense, but everything seems kind of lacking down here."

Jongin stares at him in silence for a second, before a smirk settles on his face. "Yeah, well, that's how you see it. I've always learned that you need to see the good in things for them to be good, and there's plenty of that down here which I never found in Atlas. Maybe you'll learn to see things the way I do after staying a while."

Kyungsoo flushes a bit, but stands his ground. "I doubt it," he says, which only makes Jongin laugh.

"Have you been back to meet family and friends?" Baekhyun asks. He personally goes to meet his parents every month, and of course he sees Jongdae at lunch everyday. If he was ever as alone as Jongin usually is, he doesn't know if he'd even be able tostay sane, let alone be happy.

"I haven't felt the need," he says. "Let's just say my childhood dreams aren't the only reason I left."

Baekhyun nods knowingly, careful not to push the subject any further. "So, where will we be sleeping?"

Pointing down a dimly lit corridor, Jongin gestures a number with his hand. "We have three rooms. One is my own, one is another small room and the last is a big one with two beds."

Before Baekhyun can speak up, Kyungsoo chimes in. "Do you mind if I take the single room? I'm a very light sleeper, even a little noise wakes me up. Only if it's not a problem with you, of course."

"Sure, Kyungsoo," Chanyeol says. "Besides, Baekhyun has some pretty strange sleeping habits. It'd be best if he roomed with someone who's used to him."

Baekhyun feels the tips of his ears go red, especially as he feels both Jongin and Kyungsoo look between the two of them, initially questioning, and then understanding.

"Okay, well that's settled," Baekhyun blurts. "What's the time now?"

Jongin flinches at the suddenness of Baekhyun's outburst, checking his watch. "It's coming up on 1am."

"Right, it's late," Baekhyun says hurriedly. We should get to bed so we can be up nice and early tomorrow morning."

"Right," Kyungsoo agrees, though judging by the bags under his eyes it's more out of yearning for sleep than it is out of any desire to get started on work.

"I'll lead you to your room then, it's next to mine," Jongin says to Kyungsoo before turning to the others. "If you just go down this hall, the first room on the left will be yours. Will 9am tomorrow be fine for breakfast?" They nod. "Fantastic. Well, goodnight." He turns, his hand finding Kyungsoo's shoulder, which flinches on first contact. Baekhyun rushes off to find the room without even a second glance at his ex, but Chanyeol isn't far behind.

"You always want to embarrass me in front of everyone, don't you?" Baekhyun mutters.

Chanyeol takes a seat on the opposite bed, and Baekhyun thanks the stars he didn't take the opportunity to sit next to him. He raises an eyebrow, that cocky look Baekhyun had fallen for in the first place gracing his features. "What, the thing about you making those little noises in your sleep? I think those are cute, and it's nothing to be embarrassed by. At least you don't sleep with your eyes open."

"Yeah, well you're just creepy like that," Baekhyun retorts. He'd figured that ignoring Chanyeol when they're going to be in such close proximity will be impossible, so the only option is to feign like he doesn't care about their past at all, that he's moved on completely. No matter how much of a lie that may be.

"Ouch," Chanyeol says, gripping his chest in an exaggerated gesture. "Here I am giving you compliments and all I get in return is hurt."

"Yeah, well maybe it's time you learn how that feels," Baekhyun snaps, and regrets it as soon as he does. Chanyeol's face goes from amused to upset immediately, and Baekhyun can't bear to look at him any longer. He tucks himself into bed, turning so he faces the wall and closing his eyes, anything to distance himself from that image.

"Baek?" Chanyeol's voice pierces through his voluntary blindness, carrying pain of its own. "I've said it a thousand times and I'll keep saying it until you hear me. I'm sorry, okay Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun doesn't answer. The fact is he doesn't want his apology, because he's not the one at fault. It wasn't written in their stars, simple as that.

"I love you, Baek," he says again, and Baekhyun squeezes his eyes shut even tighter than before, trying to will the hurt away. "I never stopped."

He hears the rustle of Chanyeol's sheets as he gets into bed, and once he hears his steady breaths asleep, he finally allows himself to take in some air.

The next four weeks are going to be tough.

~

Jongin's breakfast preparation is a simple one: bacon, eggs, and toast with butter. He receives mass shipments of these products from Atlas every month, though he grows his own vegetables and occasionally goes hunting for meat if he has time. He's explaining the process of slow-roasting a goat to Chanyeol when the House Comm begins to beep. Jongin presses a button, and Miss Kwon appears on the screens.

"Hello everyone. I hope you had a safe journey and a good night's rest. Today marks the first day of your mission, and as such, this may be the last time I get to speak to you with a reliable audio visual Comm, so I'll be repeating your mission briefing now. You are currently in Mexico City, which houses the closest occupied Base Camp to your destination. Your objective is to reach the Library of Congress in Washington DC, collect as much relevant printed information as you can, and then return back to Atlas with your new information. Does this make sense?"

"Yes ma'am," they all say in unison.

"Mr Byun, Mr Park, you both are already aware that I expect nothing less than perfection from the two of you," she turns to Kyungsoo before either can respond. "Mr Do, this is an incredibly valuable opportunity to prove yourself to be capable of leading the futures generation of Translators. Use it well." He nods quickly, a steely determination in his wide eyes. "And lastly, Mr Kim. Of course I have relied on you before, however this may be the most vital mission undertaken by a human to date. Please make sure they manage it safely. These people are important to Atlas, and to me."

"Of course, Miss Kwon," Jongin bows his head slightly, a surprisingly experienced tone to his voice which isn't lost on anyone - though they say nothing as Miss Kwon bids them farewell. Baekhyun notices his mouth form a tiny scoff as soon as Miss Kwon is off the air, but he think it best not to pry.

The screens shut off, and they all get to work preparing their bags. They split the tent equipment between them to lighten their load, but with the parsing equipment their rucksacks all end up on the heavier side anyway.

"Right, it's time we head out," Jongin says, and the others begin to follow him when Kyungsoo quips in.

"Are you not using a GPS or something?"

"They don't work down here," he replies. "But I've walked this route a lot, I know my way around. When you don't have modern technology to rely on," he taps his forehead lightly, "You learn to rely on intuition." He pulls out two unfamiliar objects from his pocket. "These help too."

"What are those?" Chanyeol asks, looking at them, puzzled as the rest of them.

"This is a compass," he explains. "It always points North, so it can help us figure out which way we're going. And this," he unravels the paper in front of them. "This is a map. Some people called it an atlas."

"Atlas huh," Chanyeol ponders. "I guess the Greek titan wasn't the only thing home was named after."

"The titan bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd want to name your new home after, at least not in my opinion, but I guess it has somewhat better connotations than Babylon," Jongin mutters.

"You're quite knowledgeable on mythology," Baekhyun says off-handedly, examining the map with interest. "Greek and biblical? Those are quite different fields."

Jongin takes a moment to reply. "When you're on your own down here for most of the year you end up with a lot of free time. I found some old video recordings and taught myself to speak and read both English and Spanish, and then stopped at some local libraries and abandoned book stores, learning through fiction mostly," he says, grinning at Kyungsoo's surprised look, before pulling a red pen out of his pocket and delineating a route. "This is a manual pen, which I'm sure you've witnessed in your parsing. It dispenses ink, which I made myself using strawberry pulp, vinegar and salt."

Once he's done marking the necessary points on the map, he passes the pen over to Chanyeol who requested to inspect it. It's then that he notices Kyungsoo glaring at the map with a lost look.

"What is it?"

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow briefly. "Miss Kwon mentioned that this is the closest Base to our goal, but from what I see Washington DC is quite far from here. What gives?"

"She said the closest occupied base. All these," he points to a scattered group of red crosses along their route, "are empty Bases where we can take shelter and stock up, though I can't guarantee they'll be receiving electricity still."

"But still, was there not a single other Base we could have gone to?"

He sighs deeply, tucking the pen back into his pocket. "If you want the real truth, there aren't that many Contacts still alive on this continent at this point. Most Bases are unoccupied because their occupant didn't last." All three regard him in stunned silence, yet he seems unfazed, quietly checking that they had all taken their audio Comms with them. "The reason you were sent to me here, instead of me going there and having you dropped in, is because they want to keep Contacts alive. There's hundreds of people applying to be Arcs and Translators and REs all the time, but it's not every year someone says they want to be a Contact. I'm pretty sure I'm still the youngest one out here," he shrugs, dropping to the ground to check his laces one more time. "So they didn't want me to make that journey alone. Is that answer good enough for you?"

"What exactly does this journey entail that would have potentially killed you," Kyungsoo questions, voice catching in his throat.

"Snakes, maybe gators, wolves, the lot. In fact just the other day I saw a new skeleton I hadn't seen before, and its equipment looked an awful lot like yours," he says glancing at Baekhyun and Chanyeol's gear, unwavering even as the fear appears to wash over their faces. "But the number one killer on solo trips like that, the deadliest of all, is insanity. Even though we seem so far away from all of you up there, at Bases we can get a signal between us at least, something to keep us occupied. Once we enter the wilderness, though, that's when we're truly alone. So," he straightens his back out, clapping twice. "Let's begin!"

"Absolutely not," Kyungsoo says, turning back towards Base Camp. "I'm calling Miss Kwon and telling her I'm not doing this mission. Sorry."

"For what? They'll just send another one down, someone even less experienced," Jongin says, and Kyungsoo freezes in place. "I'd like to make it to the first clearing before it gets dark so we can at least set up the tents. Make up your mind quickly, are you with us or not?"

The Translator says nothing, but his shoulders droop a little before he turns around to rejoin the group, his eyes trained firmly on the ground.

"Good," Jongin says, shifting the backpack more comfortably on his shoulders. "Let's begin."


	3. Pride and Prejudice

**Chapter Three: Pride and Prejudice**

The first day of walking is pretty uneventful, mostly flat land to be traversed and even roads to follow. The occasional buildings they would stumble upon had largely been engulfed in greenery - thick and leafy vines wrapped brick and stone like snakes trapping their next meal.

"Most of the doors are locked, and the insides are usually too crowded with plants and wildlife to be useful anyway," Jongin explains when he's asked why they can't just spend the night in one of these refuges. "Not to mention sleeping in the bed of someone who had to leave it behind feels wrong, at least to me."

They make it to the clearing without any problems, and once they've eaten and set up their tent, Baekhyun makes sure to sleep at the opposite end of where Chanyeol is.

"No kidding about those noises you make," Kyungsoo grumbles the next morning, looking very groggy. "Not to mention that guy's snoring," he flicks his head towards Jongin sitting up in bed, taking his headphones out and looking annoyingly well-rested. "I might have to start using the earplugs I brought from now on."

"Sorry," Baekhyun feels genuinely apologetic. His own sleep in the tent had actually been a lot more restful than that back at the Base, surprisingly, as he wasn't as high-strung as when he had to share the room with Chanyeol. Even now he's more relaxed, as the other Arc has left momentarily to relieve himself.

"So are you guys a couple?" Kyungsoo blurts, despite himself, and Jongin can't help but snort at his sudden outburst. "Sorry, I- don't feel like you have to answer that if you don't want to."

Baekhyun takes a deep breath, shaking his head. "No, it's bound to come up at some point, I might as well tell you. We've known each other for eight years now, of which we dated for five. We broke up two years ago-"

"-and it was a messy one. And if we're both completely honest with ourselves," Chanyeol continues, Baekhyun sitting in silence, "we never stopped having feelings for each other." He raises his head, catching Jongin and Kyungsoo's uncomfortable expressions, and laughs. "Well we've successfully made this trip as awkward as possible. But this is a job after all."

At this Baekhyun's ears perk up. "He's right. If we let our personal issues get in the way of our work we wouldn't have reached Level 7, but here we are. If we're ready to be professional about this," he looks at the two younger men, "we hope you will be too."

Jongin smirks, wrapping up the tent behind him and not saying anything. Kyungsoo on the other hand looks embarrassed of even having brought up the subject, but Chanyeol's hand on his shoulder tries to reassure him it's okay.

They don't bring it up again. Chanyeol starts talking to Kyungsoo about methods for maintaining new languages in the memory space, and Baekhyun occasionally asks Jongin about the local geography, but doesn't speak much further.

The next few days pass like this with no real problems. It won't be so bad, Baekhyun thinks, if this is all there is. At most they encounter a snake, however the affair is much more anticlimactic than what Jongin had made it sound like, and he's able to get rid of it without any problems, obviously experienced in such matters.

"Let's take a little detour," Jongin says one day, and they follow him blindly. It's only a few minutes out from where they are, but they hear it before they see it, the massive sounds of something crashing, something none of them have ever seen before.

"What is that?" Kyungsoo asks, obviously worried.

"Have a look yourself," Jongin says, but the Translator stays where he is, shaking his head adamantly. Sighing in exasperation, Jongin grabs his hand, pulling him along. "Come on."

The air by the ocean is salty, much stronger than Baekhyun had thought it would be based on all the old films he'd seen it in. The ocean spray batters against the coast, a fine spray landing like mist over their skin. There were water shows kind of like this in Atlas, back when he was a kid, but they had stopped them as they were deemed a waste of energy. He had been heartbroken when the news was announced, but a million of those carefully choreographed shows would pale in comparison to the sun setting over the horizon, bathing everything in a warm orange glow.

Kyungsoo stands next to him, equally in wide-eyed awe. "Told you," Jongin laughs softly.

From the corner of his eye, Baekhyun feels Chanyeol looking at him as always, feels his gaze tracing every contour of his face as if trying to commit it to memory. He stared like this a lot when they first met, and after Baekhyun had gotten over the slight creepiness of it and approached Chanyeol, that's when they started to get closer. Of course, things were very different then. But now, as Chanyeol stares through those long eyelashes of his like he so often does, Baekhyun can't bring himself to stop him.

~

Most of their travelling is through empty farmland, following the battered roads that stretch between them. Occasionally Jongin will lead them on a shortcut going through the forest, stepping over tree roots and ducking under branches. Eventually these grassy lands give way to sandy desert, the temperature rising. The sun beats down on their backs, sweltering heat making their movement slow and languid.

"We can't sleep outside in this heat, right?" Kyungsoo huffs.

"No chance. It'll be cooler at night, but the climate isnt exactly what I'm worried about here," Jongin replies, a little out of his wits himself. He takes a swig of water, then pours a little on his face. "We might have to power through tonight so we can get to the next city, and then we can take rest inside somewhere for a little longer than usual."

And so they do, trudging on through the same even as night falls. Once the sun is well over the horizon, Jongin sets up his portable burner, and they all sit on small pieces of driftwood to protect themselves from the heat of the surface. While Jongin and Kyungsoo look through ingredients, the latter being quite a proficient chef to the Contact's surprise, Baekhyun decides to take it easy, doing his regular mind training. He's interrupted, however, by a beeping of his Comm. "Hello?"

"Don't worry, it's just me," Jongdae laughs from the other end. "You sounded so worried then."

"Of course, I don't even remember you linking up to me," Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes and sitting a little more comfortably.

"How could I ever let you go a whole month without me, hmm?" Baekhyun can't really argue - after all, Jongdae had been right there for him when he hit rock bottom. "So how is Earth? Any toxic sludge gotten to you yet?"

"You know it's funny, but I haven't seen anything like that. I think they need to update the school syllabus," he ponders, picking up a handful of sand before letting the grains fall through the gaps between his fingers. "Sometimes it's really beautiful down here. Really worth seeing." Jongin seems to hear this, and gives him a little satisfied smile before looking to Kyungsoo. The shorter man is slightly flushed behind the ears, and Baekhyun holds back a chuckle. They look a lot like him and Chanyeol did, back in the day, pretending not to fall in love but doing so despite themselves.

"I'm proud that you're not just focusing on work for once," Jongdae says. "Take lots of Scans, I'd like to see some of these things you're talking about when you get back." After Baekhyun confirms he wishes him a good night, though Jongdae is the only one actually getting sleep tonight.

He hears a slight shifting of fabric next to him, but doesn't react. "Is Jongdae doing well?" Chanyeol asks. The two had become good friends through Baekhyun, and even stayed in touch after the break-up, but it had always been a little awkward.

It still is now, but Baekhyun tries to gulp it down. "He's fine. He asked me to take some Scans for him, but honestly I don't think they'll do it justice. Like the sea earlier, you have to be here to understand it."

Chanyeol's listening to him attentively, Baekhyun can feel it even if he's not making eye contact himself. "Look up," Chanyeol says, and Baekhyun complies, mouth dropping open a little.

"There's so many stars out here," he gasps, thinking this might be the most he'd ever seen in his life. There's too much light coming from Atlas itself to ever see the sky in such clarity. Wind carries sound here too, while in Atlas the air is always eerily still, as if each molecule is manually controlled.

"Do you remember what you told me the day you qualified to be a Level 7?" Chanyeol muses, and Baekhyun shakes his head, still a little stunned by the sight above him. "Your data that day was about constellations, but how you could never see most of the ones they'd described. Maybe you have the chance to now."

The memory suddenly springs forth in Baekhyun's mind, as well as something else he said. He wonders whether Chanyeol left out the part where they made the promise to see them together accidentally, or by design. He doesn't ask - although he feels like Chanyeol wants him to - but soon enough dinner is served. 

It's a quick meal, just enough to give them energy for a few more hours of walking. Once they're done, Baekhyun begins to get up, hand against the warm earth to balance himself. A sudden, stinging pain shoots up his arm, and he audibly gasps. It's a sharp, twisting sensation, burning him up from the inside, and he staggers a little. Suddenly he feels an arm around him, but it's very gentle, as if holding on any tighter would cause him to shatter into a million pieces. "Are you okay, Baekhyun?"

"I'm fine," he says through gritted teeth, and then again, trying to regain some composure. "I'm fine, Chanyeol, it's just a cramp. Once we get walking it'll go away."

He doesn't look convinced, but Baekhyun refuses to tell him where the pain is coming from. It frustrates him endlessly, but he doesn't push the subject further. "If you want to keep walking, we'll keep walking."

And they do. The pain doesn't subside, not even for a minute, but Baekhyun never lets out even a single utterance about it, not one complaint. It's obvious, though, that something's wrong, with the way his skin grows paler by the hour and his steps more haggard. Jongin and Kyungsoo even ask if he needs help, but under the watchful eye of Chanyeol, Baekhyun shakes them off, assuring them it's nothing more than a common illness, his allergies acting up, whatever strings he can grasp at. As he walks, he repeats his parsing exercises over and over, trying to push the feeling out of his mind and focus on nothing but moving forward. It works for a surprisingly long amount of time, but even so, once they've exited the desert and into another lush green area, Baekhyun's legs give way, his lungs gasping for air.

"What's happening to him," Chanyeol asks, shaking him, trying to keep him awake. Baekhyun can just about see his face through his blurring vision, and it looks an awful lot like his expression after their pair parsing session so long ago. The memory doesn't do much to help the sickness in the back of his throat, and he begins to choke up vomit.

"He's got a scorpion bite in his hand," Jongin discovers. "Why didn't he tell us?" He raises his voice, and it catches all of them unawares. "Kyungsoo, try all the doors of the houses around here. We need to get him inside."

"Stay with me, Baek," Chanyeol says, and the tears in his eyes and the touch of his hand in his is the last thing Baekhyun sees before blacking out.

~

An unfamiliar ceiling greets him when he next awakes. The last remnants of the pain still linger, but it's mostly gone, only traces left behind in his fingertips and behind his eyes.

"Luckily Jongin had a full medical kit with him that had enough anti-venom to deal with your bite," Kyungsoo says, perched at the corner of his bed, showing only a tiny hint of happiness over the fact that he'd woken up. "Listen, I don't know what your issue with Chanyeol is, but it's getting in the way of the mission. If you two could settle it like adults," he finishes de-stemming the strawberries he had in a bowl on his lap, passing it to Baekhyun and gesturing for him to eat, "it would be good for all of us, most of all you."

"There was an experiment, two years ago," Baekhyun starts, not caring whether Kyungsoo listens, but needing to vent with someone in the room. "It was the first time in decades that they had two proficient Arcs active at the same time, and considering we were in a relationship, we were even better candidates. We were given some data, incredibly compressed and impossible to parse by one person alone. And so they proposed that two of us parse it together."

Kyungsoo seems to be listening, though he says nothing. Baekhyun continues regardless.

"The thing about parsing is that it's completely reliant on self-control. You need to have total power over how fast you get through the data, and which routes you take, or you're only going to tire yourself out before you get to the core of the information. With this, we needed to not only measure ourselves, but each other."

"I'm guessing it didn't work out," Kyungsoo says, taking a strawberry from Baekhyun's bowl and eating it in one bite.

"It was one of the worst cases in Arc history. Both of us needed to be in recovery for two whole months after, and our reputations took a major blow," he eats a strawberry himself, attempting to regain sensation in his hand. "It would have been easier had I just blamed him in that situation, because he was willing to take it all. He's always done everything by himself, no matter what you hear about his father. He works extra hard so people can see past that. And when we were parsing, he did more than he had to. He tried to take over from me before I was ready to pass on the effort. Ever since we met, he'd treated me like I was fragile," he sighs. "There's only so much you can take before you start doubting yourself. I started to believe I was as fragile as he made me feel, and it was changing me in a way I didn't like."

"But you said you didn't blame him?"

"I did, a little," he curls and uncurls his fingers, testing their dexterity. Finally taking into account his surroundings, he suddenly feels very awkward. They're clearly in the room of a teenage girl, plushies left strewn about on the floor, an ancient looking PC on the desk, piles of books on the bedside tables. Photos of her and her friends were still somehow stuck to the wall, despite the tack no doubt having lost adhesive power centuries ago. "But he was worried about losing me, I guess, and I gave him plenty to worry about. I didn't pass on the data when I was supposed to, I thought that somehow dealing with more of it myself would make me look good with the superiors, make me worthy despite my background," he scoffs. "Look how that turned out. We were dating, but I was always competing with him. It just wasn't healthy, for either of us. So once we were feeling better, I told him I wanted to end it."

"Have you discussed all of this with him?" Kyungsoo stands, stretching out his arms above his head. "You have it all figured out, shouldn't it be easy for you?"

"They say knowledge is power, but sometimes it's a burden," he smiles, though it doesn't reach his eyes, and Kyungsoo can tell. "That day changed me. I don't think I can ever go back to being the man he was in love with, the one he thinks I still am." He passes Kyungsoo the empty bowl. "Thanks for the meal, Kyungsoo. You can tell Chanyeol he can come in now."

The Translator's eyes widen, and he hurries out, only for Chanyeol to enter without a second's notice. "Baekhyun, I-"

"Let's not talk about it, Chanyeol," he cuts him off, expecting him to look hurt like he would have if he had said something like this back then. But he doesn't, instead examining the books on the former resident's desk.

"Jongin says he found an electric car parked in the driveway of another house, and we can plug it into one of our portable generators. It's going to cut our trip much shorter, so we can set off as soon as you rest up a bit." Baekhyun nods, expecting him to leave, but he stays. "Look," he says, opening one notebook that looked different to the rest. "I think she wrote about her day in here, kind of like a journal but not online," he flicks through the pages, smiling to himself. "There's a quote on the inside cover," he passes it to Baekhyun, who examines it carefully, "It's attributed to Shakespeare."

"'When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew'". Baekhyun pauses on the page a moment before scoffing. "I had to parse his entire set of writings, and not one of them had that line." He closes the book without much hesitation. "Inaccuracy was obviously a huge problem with print media, it seems. Since errors couldn't be overwritten so easily."

Chanyeol gives him a wistful look. "Maybe, but isn't it the thought that counts at the end of the day? It's a beautiful quote regardless of who said it."

"To you, and maybe even me too. But since no one even bothered to find the originator of it, it obviously didn't resonate deeply enough to have a cultural impact anywhere near Shakespeare's level."

"But it's in this diary, right?" Chanyeol says, and Baekhyun becomes newly aware of how close he is. "It clearly meant a lot to someone." He takes a deep breath. "Listen, Baekhyun. I'm not expecting you to accept me now. But I miss you, I've never not been missing you ever since that day. I think about you all the time. We weren't perfect for each other," he admits, and Baekhyun looks up at this, his vision clouding slightly. "Our minds - our ideas of each other weren't in sync. But that doesn't mean they can't ever be," he holds Baekhyun's hand up to his chest, and his grip is a lot firmer than usual. "And our hearts, those were always attuned to each other, right?"

Baekhyun closes his eyes, because he doesn't want to look at Chanyeol right now. He's worried, because these walls he'd built up over all these years are being threatened yet again. They had always been built on weak foundations, he knows this, but Chanyeol had been too afraid to break what was inside to even try to get through the barrier. Still, all at once everything is too much. "Give me time, Chanyeol," he says, extracting his hand and examining the scar. "I don't think I'm fully healed yet."


	4. One Hundred Years of Solitude

**Chapter Four: One Hundred Years of Solitude**

"Jongin, I have a question to ask you," Kyungsoo breaks the silence, his eyes trained on the bob of his hook under the water.

Unlike him, Jongin stares directly at Kyungsoo when he replies. "Shoot."

"That skeleton you mentioned seeing when we first met was an Arc, wasn't it?"

He tenses, and for a moment the cicadas chirping feels eerily louder, harsher. Kyungsoo turns to him, clearly not willing to leave his question unanswered, and he knows there's simply no way out of this. He nods.

"I thought as much," Kyungsoo says, looking back over the lake. "You know, when you first met me, what did you think?" He doesn't give Jongin time to comprehend the question, let alone answer it. "Maybe, why is he here if he clearly hates Earth so much? Why couldn't they have sent a Level 7 Translator instead of just a 6?"

There's a tiny tug on Jongin's line, but he can't bring himself to focus on it. The catch gets away, bait retrieved, masked under the moonlit water.

"The 7s didn't want to go. There was this urban legend about some mission twenty years ago, where they'd sent the best Arcs and Translators down to Earth to gather some important documents, but they'd never come back. Of course, it was silly for them to believe stories like that, right?" A pull on Kyungsoo's line, but unlike Jongin, his focus is narrow, and he winds the line in with a practiced cautiousness. "But it wasn't just some legend. A Translator and two Arcs came down here that day, all top of their game, all the most likely to survive the mission. But we know they didn't."

Jongin feels like he knows where this story is going, and he doesn't want to hear it. He had found out the truth long ago, and it had weighed on his heart ever since; so much so that he had to leave home for good. Being on his own for so long, he's been able to bury his feelings, but now a man he barely knows is trying to make it resurface. He starts to stand up, but Kyungsoo grabs his wrist, pulling him back down before returning to fishing. Then he tells Jongin something he didn't see coming.

"I lost my father when I was 6 years old. They told me he had an accident while he was away from home on work, and that his body was so decimated by the wreck that they couldn't retrieve it. Since then I've visited his grave every year, even though I know it's empty." He reels in with all his might, and a large catfish lands at his feet, flopping about and gasping pitifully for air. "He was a Level 7 Translator, top of his class. Perfect for a mission just like this one." He picks up the fish as it loses its energy, becoming lifeless in his hands. "Jongin, was that Arc someone you know?"

"It wasn't," Jongin shouts, his voice tearing through the cold night air, dissolving into sobs as he clenches his teeth, shoving his face into his palms. "I wish it was. My mother never got rid of my sister's bed, it just sat there in her room untouched. They didn't even try to find her body, since it would take up too many resources or whatever." He swipes his hands roughly over his cheeks, willing the tears to stop. "You asked me, right? Why I'd ever want to live here and not on Atlas, where you have such great lives and conveniences?" He laughs, but it cracks halfway, strained. "Because I don't want to be a convenience for them. I didn't want to train for years as the son of a great Arc only to end up dead somewhere with no traces, leaving everyone who cared for me without any sort of closure. I don't want a happy life up on Atlas if it's one that's built on lies." He takes a deep breath, regaining his composure which hasn't been lost in years. "I left as soon as I could, and I told the people in my life goodbye, then and there."

There's silence for a while, and then Kyungsoo murmurs, under his breath, "Neither of us did the right thing, but I'm not sure what the right thing is." Soon after, he grabs the cooler containing the fish, and starts to head back to camp.

Jongin lays on his back, his eyes now dry as they reflect the millions of stars above him. One of those lights might be Atlas, he thinks, though he'd have no way of knowing. It's deathly quiet, aside from the lapping of the lake against the sandbanks and the chirps of cicadas. While earlier they had felt suffocating, now Jongin finds them comforting. No matter what happened to him, to his friends, to humanity as a whole - the cicadas would still be singing night after night, centuries after any traces of his world ceased to exist.

~

Their final Base is a small but quite refined looking building. Unlike most of the ones they'd taken refuge in along the way, this one was in the city rather than some highly forested area, and the Base seemed to have been designed with the psuedo-Grecian aesthetic of the rest of the city in mind. Jongin thumbs a code into a number pad, and they're granted access. "You guys go wash up," Jongin says. "I'll get dinner ready."

Their room setup stays the same as always, though this time with the added benefit of en-suite bathrooms. After getting clean and re-dressing his wound, Baekhyun decides to have a look around the building. Most of the rooms are standard Base fare, bedrooms, storage, communications. One thing however catches him off-guard, and he just has to investigate further.

Lined in rows and rows of dark wooden shelves are books, floor to ceiling, all looking thoroughly used. They don't just span a single area - fiction and non-fiction alike seem to have a home here, with every genre Baekhyun has ever heard of, from romance and teen fiction to high fantasy and cosmic horror. He can't help but be enthralled by the covers on these books, no doubt touched by hundreds over the years, now left with nobody to read them. Maybe if he had more time, if he wasn't on a mission, he would give them the attention they deserve. But unfortunately things can't always work out that way.

"I see you noticed the library as well," Chanyeol says, leaning against the doorway in the way he always used to whenever Baekhyun would call him over. The sight sparks a slight pang in Baekhyun's chest, but he ignores it as Chanyeol moves to stand next to him. "I came in here first thing, did a little looking around. It's quite an impressive collection, and there's books from libraries all over the country in here," he says, and Baekhyun suddenly realises how close they really are in this moment, Chanyeol's arm hovering over his shoulder as he reaches for a book, their bodies almost touching fully. "I assumed most would be from the Library of Congress given its closeness, but surprisingly there are a lot more from the New York Public Library. I guess the Contact who used to live here enjoyed it there."

"You're probably right," Baekhyun says, his breath catching in his throat a bit. Chanyeol's cologne, the one Baekhyun had picked out for him as a gift, still lingers despite the long day they've just had, and it makes him slightly dizzy.

"Dinner's ready," Kyungsoo's voice cuts through the unspoken tension, and Chanyeol pulls away, though not looking too pleased. Baekhyun breathes a sigh of relief, eager to escape the situation - not because he doesn't want it, but because he may just want it too much. Had Chanyeol made a move in that moment, Baekhyun isn't so sure he would have stopped him.

~

They eat a slightly more extravagant meal than normal, considering it is their last together after all. There's a strange sort of tension between Kyungsoo and Jongin, one that had been there before they started the last leg of the car journey, Baekhyun notices, however he doesn't think it wise to bring it up. After all, his own tension with Chanyeol is palpable right now, filling the air as they pass the food around with very few words. They all decide an early night would be the best, as the task of finding the relevant information tomorrow would be extensive as well, and they need all the energy they can get, they conclude.

At least, that was the plan. Once Jongin and Kyungsoo have retreated to their rooms, Chanyeol corners Baekhyun as he's leaving the bathroom. "Come with me," Chanyeol whispers, "I have to show you something." He walks out without turning back, trusting Baekhyun to trust him.

And he does, following him without any complaints or questions. The look in his eyes had been very determined, and a strong curiosity inside Baekhyun wants to find the root of it. They enter the library room, as he had predicted, but something's different. Perched on top of a stack of books in the middle of the main table is one of the notebooks from back at the house in Mississippi. Chanyeol gestures to it, not saying a word. Baekhyun picks up the notebook, turning it to the first page. It's handwritten, not printed, and so a little harder to read, but with Chanyeol's eyes encouraging him. he pushes on.

 

_This is all new to me, of course. I've never done this before, no one alive on Atlas today has. But I feel like it's going to change. So let the history books that will someday be written again show, that the literary re-revolution of humanity starts with this diary._

_If I were a scholar, a philosopher, or a creative, this work would likely be more important to society, more substantial. But I'm only an Arc. I take data that's given to me, unscramble it and send it on to be used. Today's data comes from me, from my mind and my heart. And it may never help anyone, but it's valuable to me, and that's enough. Unfortunately, this is only the second half, and much of it is still unwritten._

_This is the story of how I fell in love with Byun Baekhyun, for the second time. I hope it never ends._

 

He flips through the pages. They go on and on, accounts of each day but focused only on him. How Baekhyun looks with the sunrise reflecting in his eyes, how soft and delicate his hands feel when they're held during treacherous walks, how he sounds while he mumbles himself to sleep. The fear Chanyeol felt when Baekhyun got hurt, the gnawing anxiety every time Baekhyun was in pain but he could do nothing to help. The prose isn't particularly pretty, and there's a few spelling and grammar mistakes here and there, but the emotion in every stroke of the ink makes itself clear as day. Baekhyun can feel the flush rising up his cheeks and ears as Chanyeol watches him read it all. Eventually, Baekhyun closes the notebook and places it carefully on the table near him. For a moment, neither of them says anything. But soon, he speaks.

"You're a real idiot, did you know that?" he says. Chanyeol looks at him, a little sadly for a moment before composing himself for a comeback, but Baekhyun beats him to it. "But not as big of an idiot as me. I've been a real fool, Chanyeol, and I'm only seeing it now."

He's startled for a moment, but then his face warms into something Baekhyun had missed so dearly. His lips lay straight, but the glow in his eyes betrays his true feelings. He's hopeful, Baekhyun thinks, and more than that: he's happy.

So when he walks forward, taking him into his arms in the most gentle embrace, his touch as it had been after the meeting back on Atlas so long ago, Baekhyun reciprocates. Back then, Chanyeol had held him like he was fragile.

"You were just doing what you thought was right for you at the time," the love of his life says into his ear, and Baekhyun listens.

Now, Chanyeol holds him like he's precious.

For the first time in years, Baekhyun allows his arms curl around Chanyeol's waist, endulging in his scent as he buries his face into his chest, breathing in as much of him as he can to make up for all the days without. He can hear Chanyeol's heart thrumming through his ribcage, satisfaction welling up inside of him at the reaction. He wants to hear more, so he gently nudges his knee between Chanyeol's legs. He hears a sharp intake of breath, grinning in satisfaction as he presses against him harder, pushing him to his limit.

Chanyeol pulls away, flustered but still whispering. "Baek, we can't do this here with those two around, they'll wake up."

"I'm surprised you didn't notice, but Jongin sleeps with headphones in, and Kyungsoo with earplugs," Baekhyun stops him, stealing another kiss as Chanyeol attempts to collect his thoughts. "They won't hear a thing."

He nips at his ear, and a giggle bursts from Chanyeol's lips. "Baek stop, that tickles," Chanyeol says, placing his hand in front of Baekhyun's mouth to stop the attack. Baekhyun stops laughing at once, peeking down at the hand. Chanyeol freezes, thinking he's made some mistake, but just as he begins to bring his hand away Baekhyun catches hold of his wrist. He looks him in the eyes now, but they're hooded, and the next moment Baekhyun has his lips around Chanyeol's index finger, his tongue rolling languidly across the contours in his skin.

"Jesus, Baekhyun," Chanyeol breathes before cupping his face, kissing him so hard it's probably bruising. "I forgot how worked up you can make me."

"Well, maybe I should help jog your memory," Baekhyun grins, nibbling on Chanyeol's lower lip.

Chanyeol doesn't hesitate to reach down, grasping Baekhyun's thighs in his large hands. Baekhyun locks his ankles around Chanyeol's back, letting himself be carried until his back hits the side of the bookcase. The wood surface is cool, but Chanyeol's skin is burning hot; his mouth searing as it makes it's way down Baekhyun's jaw, then his neck, then his collarbones, soon making their way to his nipples. Baekhyun drops his legs to stand upright again, pushing Chanyeol forward until he's lying flat on the table. Pushing his shirt up, Baekhyun happily returns the favour with his mouth, lavishing attention all across Chanyeol's chest and abs, freely sucking hickeys on his neck, writing stories of his own on his skin. He ruts against him, but there's too much fabric in the way, it's not enough for either of them. Baekhyun pulls him down so Chanyeol is half-sat at the edge of the table before tugging at his sweats down with his teeth, face nuzzling against his crotch. Chanyeol lets out a sharp exhale as he mouths along the seams of his underwear only to pull it off too, gripping his hair tightly and pulling his mouth onto his cock.

Baekhyun hasn't lost his touch - this much is obvious to Chanyeol straight away, if the way his tongue moves over his shaft is any indication. "Fuck," he breathes as Baekhyun looks up at him. He fucks into his mouth, head rocking back as he deepthroats him. Eventually he can't take it anymore, pulling him up by the neck and kissing him sloppily. "On the table," he huffs, and Baekhyun grins. He tugs his briefs down, fingers dragging along his thighs as he does so. Kissing up the insides of his legs, Chanyeol sucks Baekhyun off too, rougher and quicker, tongue dipping around his head. Baekhyun's slender fingers run through the hair on the sides of Chanyeol's head, pulling him closer. He gags a little and Baekhyun groans in satisfaction when he feels a finger brush against his ass. Dragging his lips away and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Chanyeol pushes Baekhyun's legs up on the edge of the table, thumbs digging into his softness. Baekhyun can't even catch his breath before he drops down, giving his asshole plenty of attention. He gasps as Chanyeol keeps eating him out but adds a finger, then two, never slowing his tempo even as he adds a third, already prepped with lube he'd taken from the medical supplies earlier. Baekhyun's toes curl as his feet lock around the back of Chanyeol's head, back arching in pleasure. It's too much, and soon he comes all over his front. Chanyeol grins, inching up Baekhyun's torso and taking his cum into his mouth, letting the man taste himself as he locks their tongue back into another kiss, lining himself up in the meantime.

He pushes in, and Baekhyun jitters, still overstimulated. "Fuck, Chanyeol," he moans, closing his arms behind Chanyeol's back. He doesn't let go, of his body or his mouth. "From the back," he pants, and Chanyeol complies, letting his lover stand and pushing into him, kissing the nape of his neck before the shorter connects their lips yet again. One of the Chanyeol's strong hands rides up to tease his nipple, and he feels Baekhyun's whimpers on his tongue as he jacks him off with the other.

"I'm going to come, Baek," Chanyeol says, resting his forehead against the older's shoulder.

"Come then," Baekhyun says, reaching behind him to pull Chanyeol's hips into him. "Inside. Come for me," he whispers in the sweetest voice he can, and Chanyeol groans long and deep, his legs shaking slightly as he lets himself go. His hand movements only get more erratic, and so Baekhyun comes a second time, white staining the dark wood of the table. The sight finally makes Baekhyun come to his senses, and he shakes himself awake and removes Chanyeol from him. "Hurry Chanyeol, we need to clean this up!"

Chanyeol laughs, catching Baekhyun in the middle of his fretting and holding him in an embrace. "Glad to have you back, Baek."


	5. Things Fall Apart

**Chapter Five: Things Fall Apart**

The city, despite having been left in a hurry, still has a strangely pristine air to it. The European-style architecture, the open spaces and sprawling fountains, all lended themselves to the status of importance this place no doubt held at one point. But they aren't here to sightsee, as beautiful as the place is, and so early the next morning they head straight for the Library of Congress, the final stop on their eventful journey.

What they find upon entering, however is now what they had expected.

Books lay scattered everywhere, covering the floors, some with their pages torn and ripped, others trampled on, even more falling apart at the seams. Baekhyun swallows, holding back a strange urge to vomit. Something about the sight of the books treated like this didn't sit well with him.

Clearly he's not the only one who's distressed. Chanyeol sits down on the floor, letting the scene if front of him absorb. "Why did they do this," he asks. "Finding the target is going to be impossible."

"I don't think that's the problem," Jongin says, a little shaky, pointing to one of the walls. They all turn to see where he's pointing.

Spray-painted messily across the wall is a message in bright red, capital letters: _Arcs, Leave Now. No Answers Here._

~

"We did this all for nothing," Kyungsoo says, holding his head in his hands. "We came all this way for jack shit."

They're waiting at the Base for a ship to arrive and take them back. Jongin is strangely quiet, his knees tucked up into his body as he bites on his nails.

"We tried our best, Kyungsoo, we can't help the reality of things. And honestly, we didn't even know what we were looking for. Whoever comes down here next time will be much better prepared because of our work here."

"Unfortunately I doubt there will be a next time, Mr Byun." All their heads whip around. Miss Kwon herself stands in the doorway, looking very solemn. "This was our last chance."

 

"Atlas, fated to carry the weight of the world for all eternity," Miss Kwon settles at the desk. "We renamed our home because of over-confidence. We were never supposed to be able to sustain ourselves up there forever."

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asks, standing up. "I don't understand."

She nods, as if expecting the confusion. "Our ancestors knew we'd overrun our capabilities eventually, they knew we would run out of food, energy, space, the lot. They knew we would crumble, that's why they named the place Babylon, because we were meant to fall, and scatter back over the Earth," she takes a deep breath, as if she's finally ready to let go of a burden she's been carrying her whole life. "Our arrogance was what lead us to have to leave Earth in the first place - we kept going, kept using, thinking we would always have more left until it was too late. Babylon was our chance to start again, to let the Earth recover and learn from our ways."

"But that didn't happen, did it?" Jongin says, staring at the ceiling with arms crossed and defensive. "The money behind those who ruined the planet stayed powerful on Babylon. Returning to Earth was never in their best interests, so they propagated this myth that the Earth was some toxic swamp no one could ever live in again. They sent Arcs to die down here without any help just to prove their point, and didn't even try to search for them once they were gone." He shifts forward in his seat, eyes refocusing on Miss Kwon, full of contempt. "Trust the higher ups to keep this from everyone on Atlas, meanwhile being so open about rationing supplies for Contacts. You lied to these guys about this mission too, about their safety, and you lied to me about my sister."

She stiffens, and when she speaks her voice is tight and strained. "You were a child, you wouldn't have understood. Your sister made a sacrifice, Jongin, for you and every child on Atlas like you."

"She was a child too! She was only 16, and they sent her out here to die and didn't even bother to bring her body home," Jongin spits.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol's eyes widen. They hadn't heard of this, none of the Arcs had. Both already knew they had been kept in the dark on certain topics, but news like this is different.

"We couldn't risk losing another person to find her, Jongin. Please understand, we didn't have a choice."

"She thought of you as a sister to her," he stares at his shoes, disgust painted clearly over his face. "But you said nothing-"

"You think I didn't want to?" She screams, and they all freeze. The words in Jongin's throat are swallowed as a fierceness falls across Miss Kwon's face even as her eyes well with tears. "The mainframe, it's all connected. Everything is monitored. It's impossible to tell anyone anything, let alone tell the public about something, without being caught and stopped. We are powerless. Your sister didn't believe that, she thought we could still change things for us all, so she volunteered to go. By choice. For once in your life think about her as a fighter and not a victim, please."

This catches Jongin off-guard, and for a moment he simply stares at the usually reserved Miss Kwon as she recollects herself. Still not replying, he sits on the couch, barely processing her rummaging through her bag to find something, only looking up when she stops to stand directly in front of him.

"We never found her body, but she left me something to give you once you were of age - but then you never seemed keen to talk to me, and you left for Earth before I could catch up to you." She places a rectangular object in his hands. "Look at it when you can. It was a real pain to hide a prohibited item for you all this time."

Her heels click away as she leaves the room, and after a few moments the whir of the ship engine outside lets them know they're truly alone again. While the other three finally let go of the breaths they've been holding, all Jongin does is stare at the object he's holding, his hands quivering. Minutes pass, before finally he pulls the wrapping off of the object. It's encased in a smooth leather, and when he opens it, he finds it full of sheets of paper, bound to the spine. And on these pieces of paper, scrawny handwriting spells out countless sentences.

"Baek," Chanyeol says under his breath. "Is that a-"

"I think so," Baekhyun replies. Having to keep that concealed up on Atlas for all these years must have been hell, he thinks.

"I can't read it," Jongin says, and it's only then that Baekhyun realises the man is crying. "The one thing my sister leaves for me and I can't even read it."

Before either of the Arcs can volunteer to read it to him, Kyungsoo speaks. "I'll teach you how to read it," he says. "It's in Hangul, so it's not too hard."

"You could just read it fo-" Chanyeol starts, but Baekhyun grabs his arm, shaking his head once their eyes meet.

"It's important that he hears it in her voice, not one of ours," Baekhyun murmurs.

"You two should go back," Kyungsoo says lightly under his breath. "I think I'll stay here a while more."

The two Arcs look at each other, a mutual understanding in their eyes, before simply giving Kyungsoo a nod. They don't say much else, just a few paltry goodbyes, and the next moment they've boarded the ship, never looking back even once until they exit the stratosphere.


	6. Return to Babylon

**Chapter Six: Return to Babylon**

The ride back is utterly silent. Neither of them can think of much to say to each other - words of reassurance don't come easy when you are in desperate need of them yourself. Instead of trying to console Chanyeol, and in turn, himself, Baekhyun chooses to stare out of the window, watching as the blue planet they'd just spent the last four weeks falling in love with grows smaller and smaller.

"Will you miss it?" Chanyeol asks, and Baekhyun doesn't know whether he'd meant that question for him or himself.

He answers anyway. "How could you not?"

After another short while they finally reach the arrival dock. The door opens, and once again they're hit with the wave of new air. This is the air Baekhyun breathed his whole life up until this point, but now it scratches at the back of his throat as it goes down. It's too clean, he realises. After all, it too is manufactured.

"We're home," Chanyeol says, but it rings hollow.

~

Two days later, as if nothing had happened, they have to report back to work. Almost as if to keep them separate on purpose, so they don't get too reminiscent of their time together, they're given completely different shifts, barely seeing each other in the rare few overlaps that happen to exist.

The junior Arcs, who already used to act nervous around them, do so even more now. Baekhyun can feel their eyes, hear their whispers. After all, it isn't everyday that someone goes to Earth and makes it back alive. He wonders whether they'd been told that they had failed their mission, or if they even care about that.

Something they do definitely seem to notice, though, is the change in his and Chanyeol's dynamic. The tension between them earlier had never been a secret, and for those newly out of training, they had never known the pair's relationship to be anything but strained. Occasionally when they'd catch each other in the hallway, Baekhyun would allow a brief moment of unprofessionalism: holding hands, a hug, maybe even a peck on the cheek. More than once he'd heard a gasp from a junior who accidentally saw them, and by the next day the buzz among Arcs in the cafeteria would be heightened.

"You and Chanyeol need to chill with the skinship at work," Jongdae says, picking up his ramen off of the conveyor belt. "Your juniors have even been coming up to me to ask about you guys, it's kind of annoying. I have my own date to plan, after all."

"I'm proud of you," Baekhyun says sardonically. "That girl from Broadcasting, you finally had the guts to ask her out, huh?"

"You're the last person who should be saying anything about having guts in a relationship, alright? You avoided him all this time and as soon as you had to spend a few weeks together you were able to patch things up. If you'd had the balls to just talk to him sooner you could've been this happy two years ago."

"Stop calling me out," Baekhyun mumbles over a piece of chicken, a little broth dripping from his lip.

"Beautiful," Jongdae says, handing him a napkin. "No wonder he wanted you back."

"Shut up," Baekhyun says. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if they'd let any of you know what the new plan of action is, since our mission was a bust."

"I don't think they have one, if I'm honest." He looks around him for a moment. "I did hear the boss and Miss Kwon arguing one day when I was doing overtime, though. He was telling her that since the books aren't that useful to them anymore, they're planning on shipping them to Atlas and burning them for fuel."

"No!" Baekhyun can't help the shout that leaves his lips, and everyone in the cafeteria turns to look at them in judgement for a second before returning to their gossip. "Listen, Jongdae, they can't do that. We can't let them do that. We already made the mistake of leaving them behind in the first place, if we destroy them all our chances will be lost."

"Well unless they suddenly find the documents they need or you are suddenly able to parse that data you couldn't, there's no other way out," Jongdae shrugs.

"Wait, how do you know about that data? It was classified."

"You underestimate how much REs are told," Jongdae says, taking a big slurp of noodles. "And I was the head RE on that dataset in particular. Took absolutely forever to even mine the data in the first place, so of course it had to be something important."

Baekhyun taps his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl, before his brows crease, and then a quiet smile stretches over his lips.

"No, no way," Jongdae shakes his head immediately. "Whatever you just thought up, I'm not doing it. Absolutely not. No way."

~

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Jongdae whispers, hearing Baekhyun's shushing through his earpiece. "If they find out I took anything from storage other than what I've been told to, I'm screwed to say the least."

"If you're quiet about it they won't know," Baekhyun replies. "Besides, the fate of our species rests upon you doing this. Isn't the idea of that enough to justify this?"

"Our species doesn't put food on my table," Jongdae says, unlocking the cabinet which he had been assigned to go to without any problems, pulling out the microchip he'd officially gone to receive. He closes the door. At this point it's still possible for him to leave the room, abandon the plan and live his life like usual.

But Baekhyun had changed. Going to Earth had made him different somehow, put light back in his eyes just like there had been when they were at school together. Jongdae can't say he isn't curious to see what changed him himself.

Sighing, he pushes his thumb into his side in a way that to an onlooker would look like nothing out of the ordinary. There's a faint buzz of static, and the security cameras power down, though he knows he can only do this for about a minute if he wants to make it look like a simple glitch. "You owe me big time for doing this, Baek," he says, approaching the cabinet for highly classified data.

"Noted," Baekhyun laughs. "You can borrow my car for that date you were telling me about."

Jongdae can't help but smile as he opens the door.

~

As soon as the door to Baekhyun's apartment opens, Chanyeol's being hugged. "Hey," he says into Baekhyun's hair. Not having to hold himself back around the love of his life anymore is a welcome feeling. "What happened? You sounded really excited when you called me." He walks in, tentatively taking the nearest seat. He hadn't been to Baekhyun's place since their breakup; some things had changed, others not so much. He wonders if he still owns the couple mugs they bought in their first few months of dating.

Baekhyun sits next to him, leaning forward with a hand firmly on Chanyeol's knee. "Chanyeol, do you remember anything from the data we both tried to parse before coming down to Earth?" He half-nods in response. "Do you remember any of the information from it? Like, did anything get through?"

He strains to remember - that time feels so far away now, after all. "Something about some documents, I think? And co-ordinates? Though I couldn't actually get to the content before I blacked out." Baekhyun pulls away, and Chanyeol's eyebrows shoot up when he pulls out the USB stick from behind his back. "Don't tell me that's-"

"We need to parse it again," Baekhyun says frantically just as. "You know how to hook up the equipment right Jongdae," he says just as his roommate enters the room.

"The basics, yeah," Jongdae nods, catching the box Baekhyun throws in his direction just in time. "But are you really going to do this? It's the most encrypted data I've ever seen, one person could never be able to deal with all that."

He doesn't look up as he attaches the electrodes to his own forehead, and Chanyeol begins to let out a tired sigh when he gets cut off. "Who said only one person is parsing today?"

Chanyeol's eyes widen, his mouth opening a bit. "Baekhyun, are you saying we-"

"The reason why we couldn't parse together two years ago was because we kept trying to dominate the processing," he says, standing on his tiptoe to attach the electrodes to Chanyeol's temples, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "We're both better now, aren't we?"

Holding onto his hands before he can let go, Chanyeol nods, eyes equally bright. "I think we are."

"Can you two lovebirds snap out of it and be prepared to parse already," Jongdae claps his hands together, snapping them out of it. "You can lie down there if you want."

They take their places, slowing their breathing. Chanyeol takes Baekhyun's hand in his, and Baekhyun has to wonder how it's going to be possible to abandon all thought when his heart is beating so fast.

"Ready?"

He's not. He can feel the pressure thrumming against the inside of his ribcage, and he's sure Jongdae must be able to hear it across the room. He's sure Chanyeol can feel his pulse through his skin, going a million miles a minute, and yet he gives Jongdae the affirmative without even so much as letting Baekhyun have a moment to collect himself.

And then Chanyeol squeezes his hand in his, and all the nerves go away. A reflex they developed all those years ago in training, just as effective even now. Trust Chanyeol to solve his problems with something so utterly cliché.

"Go," Jongdae whispers under his breath as he notices Baekhyun finally relaxing, a smile on his lips as he pulls the switch.

~

The familiar scent of their air freshener fills Baekhyun's nose as he comes to, eyes fluttering open. It's his room, and he's in his own bed. Sunlight pours through the window and pools on his face, warming part of his skin while the rest remains cool in the refuge of the shadows.

"You're awake," Jongdae says.

Baekhyun sits up in his bed, and from the corner of his eye he sees Chanyeol sleeping peacefully next to him. "Did we do it?"

Jongdae holds up a piece of paper with the words Far Future Contingency Plan, 40.7128° N, 74.0060° W, Rose, Library of Babel written on it. "All that encryption just for this. I'm not even sure what this means."

"They're co-ordinates, I think," Baekhyun says, eyebrows rising when he hears Chanyeol stirring awake next to him. He's barely sat up before he's hugging him. "You did so well," Baekhyun says into his forehead.

"Hey, half the work was done by you. I couldn't have finished the job unless you got me to the midpoint first," he tries to hug back, but he's just too exhausted. "What do we do now? There's no public access to Earth GPS up here."

They turn to Jongdae, but he shakes his head. "I'm an RE, not a hacker. The device I used to shut down the cameras was a loan from someone who owed me a favour, and I don't have any of those left. Unless you're a military official, nobody on Atlas has access to it."

"That's it!" Baekhyun shouts, scrambling to find his Comm. "Hello," he says into the handset. Jongin, Kyungsoo, can you hear me?"

There's a pause, but then an answer. "Baekhyun?" Kyungsoo replies questioningly. "What happened?"

"Is Jongin there?" A look of understanding crosses Chanyeol's face.

A little rustling on the other end of the line, and then another familiar voice enters. "What happened? Is everything ok?"

"Can you tell me where on your atlas these co-ordinates lead to?" He reads the numbers out, repeating them slowly as Jongin says them back to him.

"Let's see," Jongin says, dragging his finger across the map. "The co-ordinates you gave me are for New York City."

"There's a major library in New York, right? Most of the books at the Washington Base are from there," Chanyeol pipes up.

"Jongin, is there a Base Camp in New York?" Baekhyun asks.

He seems to peer at the map for another moment. "Yeah there is, in Central Manhattan."

"How long would it take you to get there?"

He murmurs something indistinct to Kyungsoo before speaking again. "With the car, maybe a few hours, why?"

"Don't tell me," Kyungsoo says through his own Comm.

Chanyeol reaches for Baekhyun's hand, pulling it to his mouth to speak into the device. "Looks like our mission isn't over yet."

The sudden sound of the doorbell ringing makes them all jump. "Fuck, get the equipment under the bed, quick!" Baekhyun says through his teeth.

Chanyeol, now stable enough to move, immediately gets to work concealing their unauthorised parsing session.

"I'm going to get fired," Jongdae says, stashing the note in a drawer and breathing deeply. "7 years at this job and I'm going to get fired."

"Shut up, I'm going to answer it," Baekhyun says, trying to rub away the tiredness still lingering on his eyes as he opens the door. How he'd kill for one of those patently gross energy drinks right now.

Miss Kwon stands in front of him, a plain polystyrene cup in her hand and a frown on her face. "What the hell do you all think you're doing?"

He tries his best to keep his eyes from darting away from her face. "What are you talking about Miss Kwon?"

"I've known you long enough to be able to tell when you're bullshitting, Baekhyun" she pulls an audio Comm out of her pocket, one identical to theirs. "This is connected to all of your Comms, I've heard everything. What exactly is going on here?"

There's no point in hiding the truth now, Baekhyun thinks. "We parsed the data that we couldn't before we went down to Earth," he explains, gesturing for her to enter the apartment.

"That's impossible, that data was too encrypted for any one person to be able to parse it," she scoffs, taking a seat in the living room.

"It wasn't just one person parsing it," Baekhyun says, his eyes looking down.

"What?" Miss Kwon says, doubt clear in her tone as the word hits the back of her throat. "Are you saying that you successfully managed to pair-parse in your apartment and not a specialised facility for it?"

"The environment didn't have much to do with it, if I'm honest," Baekhyun says, and Miss Kwon's jaw drops a little. "The biggest change was us, and our mindset."

She stares at him for q secomd longer, expecting his expression to falter like he just told some sort of joke, but of course that never happens. "You're serious. You actually did it," she says, shaking her head with a smile of disbelief. She pushes the drink towards him. "Well, I thought one might be enough, but I guess I under-prepared."

"You knew there was going to be parsing?" Baekhyun asks nervously, hands fidgeting over the corner of his sleeves.

Miss Kwon laughs a little, leaning back in her seat. "Of course I did. A glitch in the security cameras in the storage room happening precisely when your roommate happens to be in there? I'm not stupid, Baekhyun."

Jongdae looks at them both, sitting down with his head in his hands. "I really am going to lose my job, aren't I?"

"Did I say that?" Miss Kwon says, crossing her arms and putting one leg over the other. "Believe it or not, my intent isn't always in line with the government's. I've got plenty of reasons to be angry myself, and even more to think that the choices they make aren't in humanity best interest. How would burning every book on Earth for maybe a few more months of energy do anything but delay the inevitable? After that they're going to go for all the organic material, and Earth will really be uninhabitable at that point." She clicks her tongue, "and our possible solution would go up in smoke just like that."

"So what, you're not going to spill our plan?" Chanyeol says, dragging his feet into the room. Baekhyun passes the now half-full cup to him, and he takes a hearty gulp. "Why did you come here to confront us then?"

"I'm not here to confront you, I'm here to help," she starts, placing her Tab on the coffee table in front of her as it begins to render the 3d area map of the spacecraft launch site. "This place has the most security on Atlas, of course. Did you really think you'd be able to get through it without anyone else's help?" She raises her eyebrows as they all look at each other, admitting their defeat. "I don't have the power to make some excuse for you to go back to Earth, in fact the higher ups want you both as far away from it as possible - they've been hounding me about getting in touch with Kyungsoo as well, since they want him back desperately. People wanting to return to Earth doesn't really fit their toxic wasteland narrative. I can't just cape for you here, but I can get the security distracted for just about long enough for you to get on a supply ship. We just need to let Jongin know to order some groceries to the New York base and we should be set."

"On it," Chanyeol says, grabbing his Comm and trying to catch a signal.

"Just to clarify, does this mean I'm not fired?" Jongdae asks, hands in front of him.

"Not if you go call a rental for all of us right now," she says, glancing at her watch. The RE stands, rushing to find his personal Tab to do just that. "Baekhyun, Chanyeol," she says to her juniors once Jongdae leaves the room, and they both stop mid-pacing to hear her out. "I'm proud of you two."

Neither of them is given even a second to process what was said before their Comms spark into action, finally having caught a signal with their Contact.

"No time to waste," Miss Kwon announces, as composed as ever. "Let's get this done."

~

The car ride is near silent, as they all know even the state-operated vehicles are fitted with listening technology. Jongdae drives, fingers tapping the steering wheel as he slows into a brake and a soft him on his lips. Miss Kwon sits attentive but not obvious in the passenger seat, posture relaxed but proper. When they arrive at the entrance of the Launch Dock, she pops her head towards the driver's side window slightly as Jongdae gestures towards her. As soon as they see her face the bar is raised, and they're free to enter.

"It's so easy for you to get into here," Jongdae says, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Of course," she says, coming off as effortlessly disinterested. "I'm a good worker after all, and this is just part of my job. I'm sure you know all about that."

"Being too good can be a problem though," Jongdae mumbles in his characteristic whiny tone. "I've been working so much all these years I've rarely had time for anything else. I'm finally going on a date tonight after who knows how long."

Miss Kwon chuckles to herself. "Well, good luck on that then."

Chanyeol and Baekhyun occupy the back seats, their mouths remaining sealed for the duration of their travel. Despite this, all the information they had memorized keeps turning over in their heads, their own voices repeating the details in the one place nobody else could listen in on. Eventually they reach the launch area for the supply ships, where Miss Kwon exits the car and is greeted by service staff. The three in the car listen intently, waiting for a sign or signal to move.

"So these supplies are going to New York?" she asks coolly, not a hint of nervousness on her face.

A short but well-built man in the signature pale blue overalls of the supply services stands in front of her, barely any taller than her in her heels, showing her a clipboard listing precise amounts of supplies as well as locations. "We received a message from Kim Jongin not too long ago requesting some basics there. His home Base is usually in Mexico City."

"That's quite suspicious, don't you think?" she says, and in the car all of their ears perk up in alarm. Miss Kwon had not specified her plan to them due to the lack of time and the surveillance in the car, and they had just trusted that she would work in their favour. Chanyeol is about to act until he hears her continue. "As you might be aware, Mr Kim was involved in a reconnaissance mission with some of our Arcs recently, and they noticed him behaving strangely. I've decided a good course of action would be for these Arcs to return to Earth and make a detainment, however this would require your help."

"A detainment?" The man is noticeably confused, lowering the board for a moment. "Wouldn't it be better to get the Police or Special Services to help with this?"

"If it only involved being on Atlas I wouldn't hesitate to get the Police involved, however I doubt any immediate moves can be made within their departments as nobody is adequately trained to deal with the conditions on Earth." She taps on the car window, gesturing inside, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol exit as instructed. "My Arcs on the other hand already know the suspect personally and have had plenty of experience on Earth in this mission. If there's anyone suitable for this job, it's them."

The man looks at the two, then shrugs. "If you say so, Miss Kwon. So how exactly would you like us to help you?"

"Well, we thought that sending a passenger ship to New York would seem too obvious to Mr Kim, and he would have the chance to escape before we're even able to get to him." She points behind him, and they all turn to follow the direction of ger finger, eyes landing on the supply ship. "If we can have these two aboard the cargo hold of that ship we can be more covert about it and encounter Mr Kim when he's off-guard. Would that be possible?"

"We've never done anything like that before, and I can tell you I doubt it will be comfortable," the man says, scratching the back of his head, "but I guess we can try that."

"Thank you Mr Lee," Miss Kwon smiles in the charming way she takes on when wanting people to do something for her. The Arcs hadn't seen it in a long time, considering she is their senior after all, and she rarely has to ask for anything as such. "Also, please make sure this information doesn't leak out," she says, a strategic hand light on the man's shoulder. "We don't want to cause panic where it isn't needed, nor do we want to embarrass Mr Kim's family before we have all the facts."

"Understood," Mr Lee says, the tips of his ears tinged red. He turns to the Arcs, clearing his throat a little and deepening his voice. "If you'd like to follow me, let's make some arrangements for this transport situation."

The cargo hold is a large yet cramped space. The ship, like all the others, is self-driving, and so there isn't even a passenger area for them to use. They are delivering some blankets, among many plastic crates of beans and rice and flour, and so they find themselves wrapped up in them, huddled together. The workers seem very confused as they strap down the rest of the supplies to stop them from tumbling everywhere, and Mr Lee approaches them with a contraption something like a seatbelt.

"These are used when someone is being sent back to Atlas in emergency situations," he says, securing them to the wall. "They're difficult to unfasten on their own, but since there's two of you here it shouldn't be a problem. Just in case, carry this with you," he hands them a box, and upon opening it a sturdy, sharp knife glints under the beam of the flashlights. "You probably won't need it, but it's just standard protocol."

"Thank you," Baekhyun nods, closing the box and placing it between them.

"We'll be launching in another 15 minutes, and travel will take a few hours. I'd say this is as good a time as any to catch some shut-eye, you both look awfully tired."

"We'll do that," Chanyeol grins. The last thing Baekhyun sees before the last remnant of light from outside disappears behind the door is a wisp of Chanyeol's hair from the corner of his eye; but even in the darkness he feels his warmth against his neck, hears his gentle breathing as he begins to fall asleep even over the soft whir of the engines as they start up. The pretty prose from the library back in Washington begins to fill his head, and he wonders if this is how Chanyeol felt every time he started a new page.

"When I saw you I fell in love," Baekhyun half-repeats the quote he had mocked not too long ago, and even as he closes his eyes in surrender to sleep himself, he knows Chanyeol must be smiling.


	7. To the Lighthouse

**Chapter Seven: To the Lighthouse**

Their eyes flutter open as the ship makes landing. They can hear the pitter patter of rain outside as the raindrops bounce off the metal. Turning back to back they're just about able to undo their safety belts, and as they stand their feet wobble slightly, having to get re-accustomed to gravity once again.

"Are you here? We've just landed," Chanyeol says into his Comm, attaching the knife to his belt.

"We'll be there in a minute," Kyungsoo replies immediately, the rev of an engine audible in the background.

Sure enough, the door opens soundlessly not too long after, light finally filling the dark storage hold. "You guys look like shit," Jongin says, his eyes peeking from underneath his good. He passes them two waterproof jackets, telling them "you'll get drenched without these."

In their new gear they step out off the ramps. "What is this place," Baekhyun asks in wide-eyed awe, seeing for the first time metal and glass buildings reaching up to the sky, old screens covering many of them, plastic and colour atop shopfronts, sleekness and kitsch all concentrated in one place.

"New York City," Jongin says, looking as confidently unfazed as ever. "The city that never sleeps, in a coma for a few hundred years now."

"There's so many cars," Chanyeol points out, and he's right. More than any place they'd been to so far, more unoccupied cars have been left on the streets, moss filling their interiors now.

"This was one of the last places evacuated, and it happened in a hurry," Kyungsoo says as he gets out of their car. "There was a flood warning from the Hudson, I did some research."

Baekhyun grins, pulling him in for a half-hug. "Of course you did. Did you find out how to get to the library?"

"The roads are so full we're going to have to walk, but it's not too far at all. Just make sure you don't slip," Jongin says, taking Kyungsoo's hand without a second thought.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchange a knowing look before following suit, their shoes squeaking against the wet concrete and cheeks dusted pink from the cold. The library really is nearby, they only spend about 10 minutes on their feet, and they reach there in almost no time at all. Big wooden doors are pulled apart, and they enter.

"Rose, Library of Babel," Baekhyun repeats. "What does that even mean? There's thousands of books here, how are we supposed to find the right one?"

"Look," Kyungsoo says, "their map says there's a Rose Reading Room," showing them one of the small brochures still sitting at reception, untouched for so long until now.

"That second part, it's a book," Jongin says as they make their way to the massive open space. Books are stacked on the ornate benches, glass chandeliers reflect the sunlight streaming through the large windows in rays, dust motes suspended in the sunbeams. "I remember reading it when I was practising my Spanish - it's by Jorge Luis Borges."

"Thank God you learned Spanish," Kyungsoo sighs in satisfaction, to which the Contact smiles to himself.

They eventually find the shelf on which several copies of the book are located, each grabbing one and flipping through, checking within the jackets as well as the actual pages, all finding nothing. "We can't finish this here," Chanyeol says, "it can't end like this, we've come too far for it to end like this." Just as he's about to return the copy he most recently checked back to the shelf, a small piece of paper slips from between the pages, landing at his feet. He scrambles to pick it up, finding only the number "410" written on the note.

"That's how many pages the books in the library in the novel have," Jongin explains as they all stare at the note, as if an answer will pop out at any moment now. "I don't know what the significance other than that could be."

Baekhyun sighs, straightening up and looking around in exasperation when he notices something.

"There's numbers on the shelves," he says, "they must categorise the books by number or something." Baekhyun and Chanyeol both look at each other for a second before they're running again, following the descent of the numbers until eventually they reach the all-important shelf, fittingly one on Linguistics. "Start taking books out," Baekhyun says.

They barely start when they hear a click, and the entire bookshelf seems to shift just the way doors do to open on Atlas. With the shelves cutting into their hands they both push, with every ounce of strength they have, more hocked up on adrenaline than any caffeine high, until eventually the shelf gives away to reveal an empty room with only one thing inside. Secured on the wall in a glass case is a book with a plain white cover, the words Emergency Contingency Plan: Babylon printed on the front in bold, red letters. "We found it," Chanyeol says, enveloping Baekhyun in his happiness. "We can change things, for everyone."

"We did it," Baekhyun says into his Comm, just about able to squeeze the words out before getting muffled by the front of Chanyeol's jacket.

There's a clearing of a throat, though, one from a voice definitely not belonging to Jongin or Kyungsoo but a familiar one nonetheless. "I guessed you would be here."

They separate, and instantly the smiles on their faces are gone. The Director greets them with a smile, though it's one laced with anger. Behind him, some more personnel are stood with Jongin and Kyungsoo in handcuffs, and for the first time in how long they've known him, Jongin looks terrified.

"As long as you co-operate, we're not going to hurt you," he says. "Now come back with us to Atlas."

"We're only coming if you let us bring this document with us," Chanyeol says, standing his ground.

"Chanyeol, you have to understand that returning the population to Earth right now just isn't feasible. You think our research teams aren't constantly looking into it? It's too dangerous down here."

"Bullshit," Chanyeol says, his voice raising in volume. "You expect us to believe that? We've been down here, we know what it's like. Alone, it might be unsafe, but with enough people and preparation it would be possible, and all the plans for that are in there," he points to the case. "Fuck the investors, they've been getting richer off of our backs for all these years."

"Is this really how you're going to speak to your father, Chanyeol?" The Director's voice grows gruff.

"As if you ever maintained the father-son relationship all these years," Baekhyun says. "Chanyeol doesn't owe you shit, and neither does Atlas."

"I'd be more careful with your words, Mr Byun, after all we have your friends here," he gestures to the others. "And of course, we've got Miss Kwon as well, considering she so helpfully aided your mission. Fortunately the supply shipment workers let us up at HQ know that your take-off had been successful, and that's how we knew where to find you."

The two don't budge, and when the Director takes a step forward, Chanyeol pulls the knife out of his belt, pointing it directly at him. The old man puts his hands up, but the sardonic smile never leaves his face.

"You have guts, Chanyeol, just like your mother," he twitches his finger, and the two personnel behind him raise their weapons - two high intensity heat guns - at them. "Drop the knife. One wrong move and this whole place goes up in smoke."

Baekhyun grabs the hand Chanyeol is holding the knife with, their eyes meeting as he squeezes it. He nods, reassuring, and Chanyeol winces as he lets go. It lands with a sharp clatter on the wooden floor.

"Good boy," he says. "You see, I applaud your courage, I really do, but acts like this mean nothing if there's no one to watch it. Up on Atlas, you're always being seen, being listened to, but down here," he gestures around him, "down here, you're never going to be heard."

"Are you sure about that, Sir?" A small, tinny voice sounds from four directions. The Director's eyes narrow, and Baekhyun lifts his Comm, thumb red from holding down the Receiver button for so long.

"Who are you," is all the Director asks.

"Kim Jongdae, Level 7 Retrieval Expert," Jongdae sing-songs. "With me is Minhee, Level 4 Broadcaster. Oh, and the rest of the public. You're On-air, Sir, in fact you have been for a while." His smirk is practically audible through his voice. "I assure you, your words are absolutely being heard."

Suddenly the Comms of the personnel are sounding off, with all sorts of codes being shouted, about people filling the streets and overwhelming Officials.

"Drop your weapons," the Director mutters under his breath, and the now rather confused looking personnel lower their guns to their sides. "It's over now, let those two go. Anything bad that happens to them will just be worse for us at this point." He turns back to the Arcs. "We'll send a passenger ship for you all shortly. You miss it, and we're not sending anymore."

He leaves, personnel trudging on behind him. Chanyeol doesn't care to watch him leave, turning to his boyfriend instead. "Baekhyun, you did so-"

He doesn't let him finish, standing on his tiptoes to kiss him hard, both slightly breathless when they break apart. "I know. Now let's finish what we started."

As promised, the passenger ship does arrive soon after. "At least he kept his word," Chanyeol says, two bags full of literature he had never heard of under his arm. Kyungsoo looked much the same, though with less fiction and instead more educational material on Earth. Baekhyun had only one bag, also being responsible for bringing the Plan with him. They all begin to climb the ramp, stopping when they hear yet another set of footsteps behind them.

"'It's been a while since I visited my family," Jongin mumbles, a little flustered. "And I'd like to sleep in my own bed at home one last time."

Kyungsoo can't help himself, dropping the bags on his shoulders and embracing Jongin. "Let's come back here with everyone," Kyungsoo whispers, and Jongin agrees. Eventually they pick up a bag each, entering the ship hand in hand. Baekhyun and Chanyeol can't help but grin, following behind them in very much the same fashion.

And when they strap in for interplanetary travel this time, it's hope that fills their hearts, not sadness.

"Ready? Chanyeol asks, looking to him once more.

Baekhyun smiles. "I am now."

As a new chapter begins and they blast into orbit at the speed of sound, their hands stay linked as always. The best stories, they now know, are the ones written together.

**Chapter Eight: Brave New World**

-END-


End file.
